Encyclopedia Britannica Closes Printing Presses, Focuses On iOS App

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Computing devices are the new encyclopedias. Sort of.
Photo: Apple

Encyclopedia Britannica is the oldest English encyclopedia still in production, with roots dating all the way back to 1768. If you went to school before the dawn of Wikipedia, you might have fond memories of rummaging through Britannica’s pages while researching a sixth-grade report.

Sadly, the 32-volume printed edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer be published, as the company focuses on presenting its content digitally.

Competing with Wikipedia’s free online encyclopedia has taken a huge chunk of sales from Encyclopedia Britannica, but the editors behind the publication are determined to carry on and present the highest-quality encyclopedia on the market. Because their customers are moving en masse to digital books, Britannica views the discontinuation of print as “just another historical data point in the evolution of human knowledge.”

Britannica is working on bringing a lot of new features and content to its iOS app, which gives more options to present information in numerous vibrant forms that aren’t confined to the physical pages of books. Britannica’s iOS app is free to download but requires a monthly fee of $1.99.

[via Britannica]

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