Posted on 03/16/2008 11:13:04 AM PDT by SamAdams76
IT has never been easier to read up on a favorite topic, whether it’s an obscure philosophy, a tiny insect or an overexposed pop star. Just don’t count on being able to thumb through the printed pages of an encyclopedia to do it.
A series of announcements from publishers across the globe in the last few weeks suggests that the long migration to the Internet has picked up pace, and that ahead of other books, magazines and even newspapers, the classic multivolume encyclopedia is well on its way to becoming the first casualty in the end of print...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Now the only people that seem to come around are Jehovah's Witnesses!
I suppose that as an encyclopedia saleman, you'd want to focus on houses that had bicycles or swing sets in the yard, and then make initial contact before the husband got home from work (and let the wife sell the husband for you).
I remember how the salespeople really pushed on subscribing to the "updated" volumes that would come out annually after the initial set was bought so I guess that must be how they make most of their commissions?
Encyclopedias are good for looking up references that others may make, but they are historical and reading them is only for catch-up.
“I suppose that as an encyclopedia saleman, you’d want to focus on houses that had bicycles or swing sets in the yard, and then make initial contact before the husband got home from work (and let the wife sell the husband for you). “
No, that would not work, it was a tightly controlled and orchestrated 55 minutes of positive persuasion of them as a couple, the deal had to be rock solid because in my era, the 3 day cancellation clause had entered the picture, which meant that a signature was no longer the end of the deal.
Some of the wildest characters I ever met were the old school guys that only needed a signature. I never met any of them that could succeed in the three day cancellation era, they were great showmen and con men, but their effect was temporary and the customers would cancel their contracts. (They all became professional motivators)
The ten years of updating services compressed into a 36 month payment schedule were simply the cost of the set of the entire purchase and commission (huge).
After all, ten years off updating services for what, the cost of a couple cups of coffee a day, a couple of quarters a day, just remember to send that letter in telling us how you use the books and I can place this set in your home for free.
LOL! I bought some of those too including the 100 years worth of Nat'l Geographic magazines. What a pain it was to look through those dics, but it did come in a nice looking wooden case.
Otherwise known as the library.; ) It's harder to drag my laptop into the "library".
When I was young and we had a question about something, my dad would always say, "Let's look it up.", and we'd reach for the appropriate volume. (I remember being fascinated by the leaning tower of Pisa.) We also had a children's encyclopedia, Golden Book?, it had great maps of countries for school reports and I loved looking at the pictures of the scary looking deep-sea fish with the lights! When a World Book sales women came to the door I was ready to buy a set without conferring with my husband so as to offer the same opportunity to my daughters.
You know what though? The CD versions were pretty lame, there is nothing to compare with the EB. Maybe they have improved in recent years.
The Internet has numerous webpages on any given subject, but still requires a working connection, hardware, etc. I would liken the modern internet akin to a GPS - handy, convenient, amazing, but I’m not leaving on a roadtrip without a road atlas, no way.
Hey, maybe if you came around my door back in the 1970s with that pitch, my parents might have gone for it!
I grew up on Britannica and Britannica Junior. We have both still and World Book too...a new edition! Funny, homeschoolers drool over my editions of Britannica. Considered the best.
Stop listening to the wife.
I, too, credit much of my success as a student to the Encyclopedia Americana.
It delighted them greatly to see me reading each volume cover to cover. And it paid off later on in school. At the time, the Portland, Oregon area had a College Bowl style show for high school students, I became captain of the team, and we beat three other schools to make it into the "Tournament of Champions".
One of them was a Catholic high school in Portland, and any guilt my folks had about taking me out of Catholic schools to move to southwestern Washington sort of melted away that evening!
That was nicely written, Sam. You have a easily read style which is entertaining. Do you write for a vocation or an avocation?
I also spent many hours poring over the annual "World Almanac of Facts" which was much more within the reach of my childhood budget (as was "Farmer's Almanac" and "Guiness Book of Records" which were annual purchases in our household).
Even to this day, I recall much of the information I read as a kid. Recently, I blew away my teenage son as he mentioned about studying the U.S. Revolution in school and I gave him detailed explanation of the Townsend Acts and the Stamp Act off the top of my head and how they combined to spark the revolution.
Even to this day, I still Google up subjects that grab my interest. Just yesterday, I was reading articles on border collies because I happened to run into one when walking my dog yesterday morning.
I guess that kind of curiosity is what makes us Freepers.
What do you do for a living?
Where would you print an eulogy the someone would read?
It is not the same on-line. I would pick a book at random a open and read what was on that page. And with the on line reversions nobody gets the joke about “ How to Hug “.
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