Legal Research

Wikipedia Forces Microsoft To Surrender

Ars Technica reports that Microsoft will discontinue their Encarta encyclopedia on October 31, 2009. Here’s what they said:

“Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past. As part of Microsoft’s goal to deliver the most effective and engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has made the decision to exit the Encarta business.

Microsoft’s vision is that everyone around the world needs to have access to quality education, and we believe that we can use what we’ve learned and assets we’ve accrued with offerings like Encarta to develop future technology solutions. In doing so, we feel strongly that we are making the right investments that will help make our vision a reality.”

Here’s what they meant:

“Y’all are just gonna use the Wikipedia anyway, so what’s the point?”

I think Encarta was the second CD I got when I finally purchased a PC with a CD drive. The first? Myst.

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on March 31, 2009 (boomark / email).