Britannica will now be released only in digital

Fewer and fewer known publications continue to be published on paper, many prefer the "number". Now some very famous and old newspapers and magazines no longer appear on paper, but their digital versions are regularly updated. The number of such “fans of the numbers,” whether it’s free or not, now includes the Britannica Encyclopedia. The history of this encyclopedia, by the way, is about 250 years old (244, to be exact), and it is quite significant that Britannica is now switching to digital.

For publishers, a number is much more convenient than paper. This is the ability to edit up to the time of publication, and an easy way to distribute content, and cheapness, and much more. It is interesting that the management of the company, which is engaged in the production of the encyclopedia, has already decided for a long time to move to the "figure". But plans for the transition have been implemented only now.

Of course, not only the desire to keep up with the times played a role. The main motive, as far as you can understand, is still the commerce and the marketability of the publication. So, 22 years ago, in 1990, more than 120 thousand copies of the encyclopedia were sold. But 2 years ago, in 2010, only 8500 copies of Britannica were purchased. What is there in 2011 is not reported, apparently, everything is completely bad. It is clear that this type of activity does not bring income. According to the management, now the sale of the digital version of Britannica brings about 15% of the income, and the paper one - only 1%. Everything else is earned through the release and sale of various kinds of educational publications (mainly digital).

Interestingly, the management of Encyclopaedia Britannica does not consider Wikipedia to be its competitor. First of all, because articles in Britannica are written exclusively by specialists. Well, and in Wikipedia, despite all the efforts of the authors and editors, annoying oversights and mistakes slip through quite often. Yes, and there is not much Britannica subscription (relatively, of course). The cost of an annual subscription is approximately $ 70 - many people can afford such expenses.

Via nytimes.com