EncyclopaediaBritannica
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Bing one-ups knowledge graph, hires Encyclopaedia Britannica to supply results
It may have retired from the cut-throat world of print, but Encyclopaedia Britannica is enjoying a renaissance by supplying results to Bing. Search for a topic and a Knowledge Graph-esque box will offer supplementary information to help you on your way. If it's a topic that the Britannica editors haven't gotten around to covering (Jersey Shore, for example) then the search engine will instead pull the information from Wikipedia, Freebase and Qwicki. Now we're just hoping Bing doesn't plan to revive those door-to-door booksellers, we're a sucker for a good sales pitch.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print
It was probably inevitable, but on Tuesday, it became official: the Encyclopaedia Britannica is finally going out of print. The news was confirmed yesterday by Jorge Cauz, president of Chicago-based Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., who told the New York Times that his company has decided to completely abandon print operations, in favor of its online platform. The announcement marks the end of a remarkable 244-year run for Britannica and its leather-bound tomes, which at one point stood as a hallmark of middle class living rooms and libraries. In fact, it's been barely two decades since the company reached its high water mark, when it sold some 120,000 sets back in 1990. Once the internet came into full bloom, however, Britannica's sales soon plummeted. In 2010, the publisher sold just 8,000 sets, leaving an additional 4,000 unsold copies to gather dust in a warehouse.Tuesday's announcement may mark the end of an era, but Cauz seems to have come to terms with Britannica's decision, calling it a "rite of passage." He's also eager to devote more time to his company's website, which will look to chip away at Wikipedia's market hegemony. Cauz, however, believes the two platforms can (and must) co-exist, because they fill two different roles. "We cannot deal with every single cartoon character, we cannot deal with every love life of every celebrity," he explained. "But we need to have an alternative where facts really matter. Britannica won't be able to be as large, but it will always be factually correct."
Encyclopaedia Britannica sues TomTom, Magellan for alleged patent infringement
TomTom has already tussled with Garmin over alleged patent infringement, but it looks like the company has now drawn some ire from a slightly more unexpected source, with Encyclopaedia Britannica now suing it, along with Magellan and, somewhat curiously, American TV & Appliance (a retailer based in Wisconsin). So far, about the only thing that's known about the lawsuit -- which was filed May 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin -- is that Encyclopaedia Britannica is claiming that the companies infringed on some of its patents for a "computerized map system." Exactly how that applies to these three particular companies and not everyone else, we're not sure, though we're sure we'll be hearing more about it soon enough.
