Poor Encarta
Encarta, Microsoft’s long running encyclopedia is set to be axed this year. I wasn’t all that suprised by their decision to do this. Many people simply Google or Wiki their info any more. Read for yourself – direct via Encarta FAQs:
On October 31, 2009, MSN® Encarta® Web sites worldwide will be discontinued, with the exception of Encarta Japan, which will be discontinued on December 31, 2009. Additionally, Microsoft will cease to sell Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium software products worldwide by June 2009.
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.
I used Encarta on occasion and I do agree with their decision – I remember having it installed on my laptop once and I never used it. Goes to show you that unless you are stranded somewhere without internet access doing a research paper… you probably won’t be using Encarta any time soon…
Thanks Google!