Time to say goodbye to a good old friend.
"sigh"
Oxford English Dictionary 'will not be printed again' - Telegraph
(edit)
“The print dictionary market is just disappearing, it is falling away by tens of per cent a year,” Nigel Portwood, the chief executive of OUP, told the Sunday Times. Asked if he thought the third edition would be printed, he said: “I don’t think so.”
(edit) Mr Portwood said printed dictionaries had a shelf life of about another 30 years, with the pace of change increased by the popularity of e-books and devices such as the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle. Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary’, said the switch towards online formats was “prescient”. He said: “Until six months ago I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last for ever. Since the arrival of the iPad I am now wholly convinced otherwise. “The printed book is about to vanish at extraordinary speed. I have two complete OEDs, but never consult them – I use the online OED five or six times daily. The same with many of my reference books – and soon with most. “Books are about to vanish; reading is about to expand as a pastime; these are inescapable realities.”
(edit)
Say it ain’t so!!!!!!
The rest of paper publications will eventually follow, outside of niche items.
The rest of paper publications will eventually follow, outside of niche items.
ping
Talk about faith in th electronic medium.
Glad I have my compact edition...and the magnifying glass!!
Time to say goodbye to a good old friend.
"sigh"
I remember her telling me, half the words are spelled wrong.
When I was a kid, my Granddaddy had an Encyclopedia Britannica. My Father had a cheap off brand one called the New Standard Encyclopedia. It wasn’t that bad but no where near Britannica. I always wanted one but they were just too expensive.
Recently I bought two complete ones dating from the 90’s and another one from the 60’s for less than $30. People basically just wanting to get rid of them. I still find it easier looking things up in them than the internet.
Great book about the history of the writing of the Oxford Dictionary. The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester.
Are you the manager of the FR Tech Ping List? I’m thinking that the Tech Ping list members might be interested in this thread :-)
Remember when “gay” meant being happy?
Family was a dad, mom & kids.
Women were carrying a baby, now it's a fetus.
Illegal immigrant is now undocumented citizen.
....
He who controls the language, controls the debate.
Saul Alinski.
That is why they want to discontinue the printing. They want to hide the evidence of the real meaning of words .
What was that movie where books were banned or words in papers were changed? Should have been named after the liberals.
OUP throws in the towel, in favor of WIKIPEDIA!?!
This is like discontinuing Grey's Anatomy in favor of The Visible Man/Woman models. /sarc> ...maybe.
I guess this means I can’t sell my vintage ~1970 World Books? Dang, and it’s a complete set!
One could always print it out.
Very sad but understandable. I have 2 of the short versions, which I have not consulted more than 5 times in the last 10 years. Same with my excellent encyclopedia set. It’s all there on the Internet now.
I read a book last year about the publication of the first edition of the OED. Fascinating.
An enemy, in 10 years or so, explodes a series of ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) Nukes over us and Europe. I tend to doubt the absolute total wipe-out scenarios, BUT it wouldn't be pretty.
Just sayin ...
Either that of a burst from the sun directly to earth - as has happened before, knocking out what electrical technology we had at the time - like telegraph transformers - could be tantamount to the burning of the Constantinople Library.
That set civilization - sciences, medicine, etc., - back hundreds of years.
I tell my kids and grandkids: PRINT OUT YOUR BEST PHOTOS and get them safely into albums. Print out email letters you don't want to lose forever and, also, WRITE REAL LETTERS.
I have photos that are are over 100 years old of family.
I have bundles of letters from my dear late grandparents - from the 30’s-40’s, and from my late parents. They are are wealth of family history. (Indeed, I have a book written by one of my 7th great great grandfathers in the 1600’s. (Gov. Wm. Bradford of the Mayflower. He wrote a journal for the family about the 20 years of struggle before, during and after the crossing to Plymouth. It was hunted down and printed in the late 1800’s. I have that edition as well as the one that has been continually reprinted for the past 60 years. Had that not been first in his pen on paper and then printed, it would have long been lost, along with all the history. Nearly everything we know about the Pilgrims is from this original family journal.)
In the last 10 years, we have gone from VCR’s to floppys to CD’s to DVD’s and those are already changing in size. It won't be long before whatever is on them will be trapped - as machines for playing them will change and become obsolete.
The written letter, the printed photo and the printed book will not become obsolete by ‘disappearing.’
Good grief, I'm glad I have an extensive collection of books...but now I'm thinking I need to start collecting libraries for my kids and grandkids.
Insanity.