When’s the Last Time You Used a Printed Encyclopedia? – Survey of the Day

I can remember being a kid and having the a delivery service come to the door with two huge, heavy boxes. My dad was so excited, he had bought his first real, full, nice, encyclopedia set. It looked so nice you almost didn't want to touch the books, with covers so soft you could use them as a pillow and nice crisp pages. It was a big day for the family, and those books got a ton of use over the years. Now though, you can get all that great info online, and print versions of The Encyclopedia Britannica are going away. When's the last time you used a printed encyclopedia?

The Encyclopedia Britannica, which has been in continuous print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768, said Tuesday it will end publication of its printed editions and continue with digital versions available online. This is good news for pocket books, because you can now use the books for between $2 and $5 per month compared to the $1400 a full 32-volume printed edition would run you.

No need to worry for the company though, they say they have been preparing for this day since 1970 when they first started flirting with the idea to go digital. Because of their preparedness, they were ready, and will be around for a long time. With its scholarly, reliable reputation, Encyclopedia Britannica had not been affected by the popularity of free websites like Wikipedia.