From AfterDawn:
Just a couple of weeks after Encyclopaedia Britannica decided to discontinue its print editions, the company was overwhelmed by orders of the final edition of the set.
The company says it is down to just 800 copies left, despite the set’s $1395 price tag.
Says a company spokesman: “The size and duration of the spike has been a little bit stronger than we expected. The first couple of days, our phone lines were overloaded. The people who take the orders were here one night past 10 o’clock… the senior executive in that area was answering phones.”
Over 1000 orders have been placed in the last two weeks, compared to an average of 60
(Via AfterDawn.com.)
1000 orders per compared to a previous average of 60; …er, that argues for a print edition. The print customers are still there. They are still using the 1911 edition.
I disagree. Many of those 1000 orders were probably placed because it is the last print edition and can be seen as a collector’s item.
I bought five. I plan to post on eBay later this week. Ka-ching.
It’s good to see Encyclopaedia Britannica finally making some money. They have had some tough years due to mismanagement and having misread the market with regards to Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a 98% share of the online encyclopedia market and Encyclopaedia Britannica is struggling to compete. Many libraries, schools & individuals are questioning the need to subscribe to Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, when the content is free on the internet, and much more comprehensive.
Over the next few years we will see the continued demise of Britannica as it becomes ever less relevant in an open source, Wikipedia-dominated environment.