After 244 Years, Encyclopædia Britannica Stops the Presses

[Kevy Baby]

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered reference books that were once sold door-to-door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, company executives said.

Link

[flippyshark]

Well, now I want one.

[Alex]

I think this sentence is all that needs to be printed to explain the entire situation:

. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

[Moonliner]

I am proud to have been one among the "fleet of traveling salesmen" selling Encyclopedia.

It inspired me to get my butt to college.

[katiesue]

I kind of liked randomly looking up things, then finding something else along the way.

[Alex]

Plus, it peaked with the 1911 edition when it had the perfect blend of comprehensiveness and casual genteel racism.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by katiesue

I kind of liked randomly looking up things, then finding something else along the way.

I do that with Wikipedia all the time. I'm on the site looking up info on something like a solar filament and the next thing I know, I'm reading about The Texas Rollergirls and two hours have disappeared.

As an aside, once I get Headliner off to college, I hope to use Wikitravel to plan trips. Hit the sites "Random page" button and go wherever it takes me. Today's destination would have been: Retezat National Park

[alphabassettgrrl]

Originally Posted by katiesue

I kind of liked randomly looking up things, then finding something else along the way.

Oh, I loved doing that, too!

Originally Posted by Moonliner

I do that with Wikipedia all the time.

Really? I don't find the digital version to be as amenable to random finds. I look for something, and find it, and that's that.

Sad to lose such a staple of my childhood.

[Alex]

Try the "Random page" link at wikipedia. You'll learn more soccer and cricket players than you'd ever believe existed.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I hit an NFL player at 31 clicks. Click 33 got me a soccer club. Belgian Pro League at 40. Finally hit a Japanese player at 42.