[LINK] 2010 EB the last in print
Webb, KerryA
KerryA.Webb at act.gov.au
Thu Mar 15 10:27:48 AEDT 2012
Roger wrote:
>
> Years back, lots of us used Britannica as a case study in abrupt,
> technology-induced collapse of a longstanding and highly-successful
> product, e.g. (from a 2002 version):
>
> "In 1991, Encyclopaedia Britannica sold about 400,000 printed sets,
> and in 1997 about 10,000. The collapse was triggered by the success
> of Microsoft Encarta and other CD-ROM versions of lower-quality but
> approximately equivalent collections sold in a convenient and
> inexpensive form.
>
> "Since then, web-based information services have mushroomed. Despite
> its brand reputation, and the apparent quality and presumed value of
> the content the company owned, revenue halved, losses have
> accumulated, the company has changed hands several times, and
> survival remains uncertain ...
>
> "Since 1997, in its scramble to survive, EB has tried CD-ROMs, an
> advertising-funded web-site, gratis look-up of any individual topic,
> and a web-site that supports subscription-based access by consumers,
> and subscription-based access by educational institutions. ..."
>
> Today, hundreds of outlets are reporting that the company that owns
> EB has announced that, after 244 years and more than 7m sets sold, no
> new editions will be put to paper. The 32 volumes of the 2010
> installment were the last. "Future editions will live exclusively
> online".
>
> What's really interesting is that the 1991 sales of 400,000 sets
> represent nearly 6% of the total sales over 244 years. So there may
> have been a steep growth curve during the last decade or two,
> followed by even more rapid collapse of the printed format. Ah, the
> perils of predictions based on past data.
>
>From this discussion, I was moved to check on the current price of EB online (around $70 pa) and on DVD ($80). Which is a bit less than what I paid around twelve years ago for a vintage printed set. Which I haven't opened for five years.
Kerry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This email, and any attachments, may be confidential and also privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies of this transmission along with any attachments immediately. You should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
More information about the Link
mailing list