<
https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/06/rejoice-its-2023-and-you-can-still-buy-a-22-volume-paper-encyclopedia/>
'These days, many of us live online, where machine-generated content has begun
to pollute the Internet with misinformation and noise. At a time when it's hard
to know what information to trust, I felt delight when I recently learned that
World Book still prints an up-to-date book encyclopedia in 2023. Although the
term "encyclopedia" is now almost synonymous with Wikipedia, it's refreshing to
see such a sizable reference printed on paper. So I bought one, and I'll tell
you why.
Based in Chicago, World Book, Inc. first published an encyclopedia in 1917, and
it has released a new edition almost every year since 1925. The company, a
subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, claims that its encyclopedia
is "the only general reference encyclopedia still published today." My research
seems to back up this claim, at least in English; it's possibly true even for
[other] languages. Its fiercest competitor of yore,
The Encyclopedia
Britannica, ended its print run in 2012 after 244 years in print.
In a nod to our present digital age, World Book also offers its encyclopedia as
a subscription service through the web. Yet it's the print version that
mystifies and attracts my fascination. Why does it still exist?
"Because there is still a demand!" Tom Evans, World Book's editor-in-chief,
told Ars over email.
Today, up-to-date information flows freely thanks to the Internet. It's only a
Google search away. Many people rely on Wikipedia, which is a nonprofit
collaborative resource, for reference purposes. Despite that, some people and
organizations apparently still buy paper encyclopedias. Evans said that sales
of the print edition are "in the thousands" and that World Book always prints
just enough copies to satisfy demand.'
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
