Two

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Today is a sad day for the world of knowledge.

After 244 years, the printed Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer exist. Sure, there will still be the digital editions and all, but it's just not the same experience. Not the smell of the pages, the careful illuminations, the weight of all that information right there in your hands... It was always an investment in learning, solid and dependable. I'm going to miss it.

Comments

[womanontop.insanejournal.com]

That's so sad. I had one of those growing up. True, I used to put them on chairs so I could reach the high shelf more often than I read them, but still

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

I couldn't afford a new set every time one was released, but I usually got a new one every ten years or so. I guess I'll just have to get it digitally now.

[womanontop.insanejournal.com]

I mean, I'm glad it's not disappearing completely. But most schools require you to use book sources for papers still. I wonder how this will affect students.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

I suppose it's considered an e-book. I'd expect my students to still use the correct MLA format when citing it in a bibliography, whether they used the digital or printed version. But, if it disappeared entirely, it would be a crime against academia.

[winter-queen.insanejournal.com]

A foolish move really. Technology is not always reliable. Hard copies are necessary in case of electronic malfunction.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

I'm with you on that one. I suppose you could print out the pages or something, but that almost seems like more work that it's worth.

[winter-queen.insanejournal.com]

Indeed. I recall the days when such knowledge wasn't so cheapened. Books had weight and value for the time that was dedicated to their creation, not just what the volumes held.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Especially the ones that were written in the most careful handwriting on the very best vellum, with beautiful illuminations, and bound with gold and jewels. They made their value clear. I suppose that's the downside of the age of literacy--the more people who can read, the fewer who truly appreciate the worth of knowledge and books.

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

Oh, now that is a shame. I've owned a few of those sets myself.

I don't think we've been properly introduced yet. Dr. Galen Oram, at your service. Though, around here, I'm better known as Asclepius.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Isn't it, though? Man.

Pleased to meet you, Dr. Oram. I'm also known as Ogma. In fact, if I remember right, aren't you very similar to my father-in-law, Diancecht? Only... I don't think you killed people you were jealous of, did you?

[ieter-amumon.insanejournal.com]

No, can't say I was in the business of killing anyone. In fact, I got in trouble for bringing people back from the dead. Luckily, Uncle Hades has agreed to let that be water under the bridge these days.

[Filter: Ogma]
Ogma, you say? That makes you a Celt, doesn't it? You should probably know that I am actually sworn in service of King Arthur. It does seem like you folks need more help than the Greeks--not that there isn't an alliance of sorts between our two groups.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

That's good to know.

[Filter]
Well, I for one appreciate the help. Glad to have you on board, Doctor.

[blackdestroyer.insanejournal.com]

Man, no one cares about that shit anymore. Too clunky. Shit's changed now. Get with it, old man.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Tsk. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Knowledge has value, and though I suppose it's good to have it regardless of form, the written word is still important.

[blackdestroyer.insanejournal.com]

Fuck you, bitch. I say whatever the hell I want to.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

...And who are you, exactly?

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

Oh, that is too bad. My parents have a set of those.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Good to see the younger generation appreciating it.

And who might you be, young lady?

[roseredheart.insanejournal.com]

Thanks.

Amanda Rose Keefe. Or, Erato, if you want to go by myth names. I'm a freshman at the University of Washington in Seattle, majoring in Classics.

[littlebithorny.insanejournal.com]

I feel your nerd loss, man, I really do, but it's not a business model they could keep at right now.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

I'm not saying I don't understand the reasons they chose to discontinue it, but it's disheartening to lose such a storied tradition.

[littlebithorny.insanejournal.com]

Gotcha.

[speakswithdead.insanejournal.com]

Any loss of knowledge is a tragedy. I had a considerable library years back, who only knows what's happened to it now.

[inked-oak.insanejournal.com]

Amen to that. I've got a pretty extensive book collection myself. Where was yours?

[speakswithdead.insanejournal.com]

In the Underworld between Elysium and Tartarus. Knowledge comes in all spectrums.