RSSMicrosoft to discontinue Encarta encyclopedia
By Angela Gunn | Published March 31, 2009, 4:22 AM
Tip a cap, tip out a beverage, tiptoe to your CD-ROM shelf and pay your respects: Microsoft has announced that its venerable Encarta encyclopedia is to be discontinued later this year. First released to great acclaim in 1993, the shiny reference guide fell victim to the march of time, the explosive growth of the Web... and, yes, possibly to Wikipedia and its ilk.
Sixteen years isn't a terrible run for a non-headlining product, though, and Microsoft's announcement was sanguine about Encarta's legacy. "Microsoft's vision is that everyone around the world needs to have access to quality education," reads the statement announcing the change, "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." As for the editorial vision guiding the product -- the main Encarta page on microsoft.com boasts that its 60,000-plus articles were written by actual experts, "in contrast to many web encyclopedias" -- well, you've got until October 31, 2009 to enjoy it. Go.
At least schools allowed students to site Encarta for references. The same can't be said for Wikipedia
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|I liked the font.
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|i think that encarta maintains the ideal tone for young students who are doing research via the internet.
though there are other sites with much more details. they are best left for older students and adults.
i think encarta should be kept around and further improved upon where parents and teachers can have some assurance that young minds are spared confusion and corruption.
personally, i still refer and include the information i get from encarta for my research projects.
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|Encarta was great during the multimedia boom, but now the internet has all but replaced it.
And by that I don't just mean Wikipedia. Wikipedia is terrible.
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|This is actually still going?
It was ok back in 95/98 era, but it's of no use really, now that there's millions of other places to get the info for free (and not necessarily wikipedia, either).
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|No use you say....
Encarta laid out the info in a nice concise manner and those times when the WWW was down trusty old Encarta was there at the click of a button.
Sure online resources are vast but vast does not always equal quality.
What works for you may not be another persons cup of tea.
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|Did you stop at my first comma?
It was of use prior to the Internet boom, when access to the internet was limited.
Now, you can get online to get the information from Encarta's sources and the original researchers etc. via the Internet.
I'm not saying it was/is s***, I'm saying it is no longer of any use when this information is now more often than not free and just as reliable if you know where to look.
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|"I'm saying it is no longer of any use when this information is now more often than not free and just as reliable IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK." (emphasis added)
With a service like Encarta you didn't need to know where to look, you simply needed to look at Encarta.
My car keys are always in the last place I look but that doesn't help me find them.
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|Must be nice to have the web 24/7 365. In the real world that is not the case.
I take it you have never been abroad where there may be no connection and what you have on your notebook is all you have?
Seems others seem to like a program also instead of weeding through the WWW and no doubt it is easy to click a button and bring up Encarta and know the information is accurate. Same goes for Britannica.
Like I said what works for you does not work for others so relax.
It is okay for others not to do things your way.
Edit* removed snide remark.
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|Aside from Encarta being just a really pleasant, competent, well-thought-out product, I appreciate its usefulness for folks who may not be as savvy about Web searches for primary sources, or who need to keep their research efforts a little more focused. I don't think anyone here would seriously propose turning primary-school kids loose on Wikipedia, for instance, but Encarta? Sure, bring them on. Quality stuff and very nicely presented. In fact, I have some tiny hope that Microsoft will turn what they've learned to, perhaps, some sort of teaching tool that'll help kids to learn good computer-assisted research techniques. A person can dream...
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|NO! This was actually a Microsoft product that worked and provided joy day in day out. Wikipedia, seriously?
What the world has come to.
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