Encyclopedia Britannica to stop printing : Othor Games

» Mon May 14, 2012 7:05 pm

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Encyclopedia-Britannica-Print-Edition-Gone-Discontinued-Online-Only,news-14449.html

1st printed 244 years ago - the very best encyclopedia ever

a little bit sad

» Mon May 14, 2012 11:41 am

Too bad. I understand the decision though. Nobody I know uses printed encyclopaedia when there's also a digital version available. Plus, an online encyclopaedia is much cheaper to keep properly updated. It would have been nice to still have a printed Encyclopaedia Britannica around for nostalgia's sake though.

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:48 pm

Besides a library, I don't know who would buy a paper encyclopedia. It's 32 volumes and by the time you buy it, it's out of date.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:42 am

Kind of makes me sad to see books going the way of the dodo. I kind of feel like we're pushing for technology on everything that we're going to be in deep trouble when the day comes that a major tech crash or whatever happens.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:45 pm

I believe I had a CD version of this about a decade ago.

» Mon May 14, 2012 7:35 pm

I had a printed copy until recently; I bought it second-hand which I guess already suggests part of the problem. The rest of the problem is that it was enormous and didn't really have enough technical coverage for my tastes, so in the end it went, albeit with some regret. I have hung on to my printed OED which is almost as big, and while it'd be more convenient to look things up using a digital copy, there is something nice about leafing through those big, heavy tomes...

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:37 pm

They could at least have stopped printing it at the 245 anniversary. 244 isn't a cool date.

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:10 pm

They could at least have stopped printing it at the 245 anniversary. 244 isn't a cool date.

they should go for 250!

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:42 am

they should go for 250!

I'll predict they will do a special 250th anniversary print edition, though I can't blame them for not running more printed copies in the meantime: they may not have a 250th anniversary if they did...

» Mon May 14, 2012 7:37 am

Too bad. I understand the decision though. Nobody I know uses printed encyclopaedia when there's also a digital version available. Plus, an online encyclopaedia is much cheaper to keep properly updated. It would have been nice to still have a printed Encyclopaedia Britannica around for nostalgia's sake though.

It's also easier to find information when it's electronic. I always hate how physical books lack a search function

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:26 am

It's also easier to find information when it's electronic. I always hate how physical books lack a search function

I've been trying to use ctrl+f for years on books...

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:34 pm

I've been trying to use ctrl+f for years on books...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's thought that. "Why doesn't this magazine have grep?"

» Mon May 14, 2012 7:32 pm

Honestly I'm surprised anybody cares, Its a freekin' encyclopedia, They invented the internet so theres no need to keep a crapload of books which will eventually become out of date anyway

» Mon May 14, 2012 3:05 pm

May make sense for the encyclopedia in this day and age....but y'know, I am going to miss printed books/media...because you know the day is coming.
And I still don't like reading lots of text on a screen. Even a Kindle.

» Mon May 14, 2012 2:03 pm

It's also easier to find information when it's electronic. I always hate how physical books lack a search function

They have this neat thing... an index

» Mon May 14, 2012 9:56 am

They have this neat thing... an index :tongue:

Which doesn't contain everything and doesn't exist in most non-academic books as well as some academic ones.

I resort to using google books to hopefully get the page information of a quote when looking for one.

» Mon May 14, 2012 9:45 am

Growing up my parents got my brother and I the entire set. My father built a shelf for us in the closet. The books got buried in clothes and toys. Years later my brother and I after having moved out we cleaned out the closet in our old bedroom. The books were uncovered and rediscovered. Then carried outside to a dumpster we rented. Growing up I can tell my brother and I NEVER used those books. I grew up without internet because it didn't exist.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:13 am

It's funny how future generations will still be able to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, but they won't be able to look at the records of our time because the database might have crashed in the thousand years between now and then.

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:02 pm

Which doesn't contain everything and doesn't exist in most non-academic books as well as some academic ones.

I resort to using google books to hopefully get the page information of a quote when looking for one.

Any decent encyclopaedia is easy enough to use without a search function. Besides an index there's also this thing called alphabetical ordering.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:57 pm

Any decent encyclopaedia is easy enough to use without a search function. Besides an index there's also this thing called alphabetical ordering.

I'm talking about books in general are easier to search electronically, not encyclopedias. Even encyclopedia's, though, when looking for a specific excerpt within an article, when you can't remember the article, it can be a PITA. Happens to me all the time on Wikipedia, thankfully Opera has a very effective caching system that allows me to search almost all the text content of a page just from the browser history.

» Mon May 14, 2012 4:01 pm

Tis a sad day indeed, but obsolete is obsolete.

» Mon May 14, 2012 8:25 am

I'm talking about books in general are easier to search electronically, not encyclopedias. Even encyclopedia's, though, when looking for a specific excerpt within an article, when you can't remember the article, it can be a PITA. Happens to me all the time on Wikipedia, thankfully Opera has a very effective caching system that allows me to search almost all the text content of a page just from the browser history.

That's true I suppose. Never ran into that myself, as the only books I ever desire to find specific excerpts in are academic works, which generally have excellent indexes. And articles are usually short enough that a bit of skimming through the text will get you what you need fast enough. But scientific journals are usually available in digital form, so it's even less of an issue there. I guess I'm just old fashioned though, I love the look, smell and feel of printed books.

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:26 am

Paper/books is obselete anyway

Trying to keep one of these up to date is much more effort than it's worth, especially when the likes of wiki are around and do it much easier

» Mon May 14, 2012 5:33 pm

Sad indeed I remember spending hours reading them with my dad

» Mon May 14, 2012 11:25 am

It's a shame but such books are next to useless in modern world. Time goes on.