Goodbye Encyclopedia Britannica

Picture from britannica.com.au

The digital age has claimed another victim. First, it was the closure of several big bookshops in Singapore (Borders being one of them), now, it's the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica. After almost 250 years of publication, Britannica has announced that it will cease producing the print edition. 

Does anyone remember the beautifully bound repository of knowledge and information? In the old days, whenever you needed a definitive answer on any subject, you'd say "I'll look it up in the Encyclopedia!". And when you call someone a "walking Encyclopedia", it means that that person is full of knowledge. These days, it's "I'll Wiki it!". And yes, where do you think the "-pedia" in "Wikipedia" comes from? While the content of Wikipedia is contributed by anybody, Encyclopedia's content is maintained and updated by 100 full-time editors and more than 4,400 expert contributors.

While I was reading the newspapers about the demise of the print edition, I was shocked to read that the entire set of Encyclopedia sells for a princely sum of USD1400! That made me appreciate my dad for making the purchase of a set 30 years ago, and I'm sure that it must've cost him a small fortune. Considering that my dad has always been a very thrifty person, it shows how much he values knowledge, sparing no expense in ensuring that we're well read. He even bought me the children's edition, which was also beautifully bound. I remembered spending hours poring over the pages, fascinated by the facts that I never knew, about faraway places and facts from a time so long ago. 

It is with a tinge of sadness, seeing the passing of another era, a memory of my childhood going down the path of the dodo. I must confess that I've been reading magazines digitally ever since I got my iPad, because it's convenient and it also saves space (the clutter caused by the piles and piles of magazine is a nightmare). Wikipedia is also a large part of my life right now, being so convenient especially with smart phones nowadays, as compared to running to the book shelves to get them. Such is life nowadays, the convenience of having the information at your fingertips, and instantly. However, so many of the stuff from my growing up years, are now nothing more than fond memories, and as my memory deteriorates, these memories get hazier and more confused. The Encyclopedia Britannica wasn't just a set of knowledge, it was one of the greatest gifts my father gave me.