Goodbye Encyclopaedia Britannica

[palbert]

After 244 years Encyclopaedia Britannica to cease publication - go exclusively on-line:

(The New York Times, March 13 2012)

 

[pat grimshaw]

I think it immoral that a cashed-up American company would deceptively trade its products pretending to be British.

 

[FPNY]

it's not Britannica as in Britain, it's as in Britannica, Indiana, where it is headquartered.......

 

[FPNY]

/\/\ I basically just made that up.......

 

[buffxqui]

We could never afford it. World Book is what I had growing up.

 

[FPNY]

just to have something to do......

 

[HunterM]

Online is SOOOOO much better! It's a real pain on my back to lug the entire set wherever I go. I started to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

 

[chrisw87]

Sad to see.

Although everything is accessible online these days, I would really like to invest in a new set of encyclopedias. We used to have a complete funk n wagnalls set from the 80's which saw me through my early schooling years right up till mid highschool when I discovered internet researching.

Would also be nice to pick up some helpful reference books such as;
1. A new dictionary and thesaurus
2. Grammar reference book
3. Literary reference book (for things such as source referencing, structure etc).

 

[pat grimshaw]

^ but all this stuff is online now

 

[palbert]

I think it immoral that a cashed-up American company would deceptively trade its products pretending to be British.

The company is in fact headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

 

[chrisw87]

^ but all this stuff is online now

Yes it is, but it is nice to have a hardcopy there, it is the same reason why I have not purchased an e-book reader, I much prefer the printed text.

 

[teadrinker]

I have the three volume facsimile of the first edition, which I love. It's got splendid sections on various sorts of arcane mathematics, and large sections on things like farriery. For modern reference I simply turn to Wikipedia.

-T.

 

[pat grimshaw]

^ Anthony Powell says 'Books Do Furnish A Room'

 

[72-Jay]

Sad to see it go

I remember my parents had an Encyclopaedia Britannica set when I was a kid.

 

[braex27]

I think it immoral that a cashed-up American company would deceptively trade its products pretending to be British.

It may be American-owned now but it originated in Britain. No reason really to depart from its historic roots. Knowledge is knowledge.

I always wanted a set but we could never afford one. I haunted the public libraries all through high school for my research projects. I loved them. Beautiful beautiful books.

It's such a shame that they are stopping the print versions.

 

[bw92116]

I still have the 1959 set, which my parents bought for my sister. Plus we got the "Book of the Year" updates for about 20 years. Once in a while I look up something in the 1959 set, but it's missing a lot of things that have become known since then. Still, though, I've gotten a few interesting reads from it. There was one guy on Oprah once who had read the entire set from beginning to end.

 

[pat grimshaw]

It may be American-owned now but it originated in Britain. No reason really to depart from its historic roots…

My point is that they are using Britain's solid reputation of temperate thoroughness to sell an American product.

 

[SLOPPYSECONDS]

well
21 st century is a ofs privalage of real livin Encyclopaedia of folk world ova of wot matta
ans not shit papa

but da great lands of toons still feedin their own nut job heads
too stooooopid ta read

# how a humans of great twat lands make it this far? #
" dat classfied "

there go

book one hand planet othda
@ ooh dat a quizzy?! @
no

this was nice

thankyou

CGI coconuts not make nice milkshake

 

[gsdx]

I much prefer the printed text.

I do, too. I'll never buy an E-reader. I grew up with real books. I don't think I could get to like one that required batteries.

 

[freefall]

Does this mean now the official all-updated and comprehensive The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy is out!?

I WANNA I WANNA I WANNA