Print Encyclopedias Selling Like Hotcakes

When Encyclopedia Britannica announced they would end the production of print encyclopedias, it spurred a flurry of sales. Of the 4,000 sets of the 2010 edition they had in stock, all but 800 have been purchased.
"We were averaging about 60 sets a week and the next thing we knew, we were selling 1,050 a week," Britannica spokesman Peter Duckler said Thursday. "When people thought they were going to be around forever there was no rush to buy one and then suddenly, boom, and now there is a scarcity and it's a collector's item."

Company officials estimate that the remaining encyclopedias will be sold by the end of this month. Link -via Consumerist

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I have a full set from 1988 which are much more satisfying to own than the DVD version from much later. Do I read the print versions? Of course not. But then I don't use the DVD either - Wikipedia and the rest of the Internet give me access to all the information I need. If I need more detail I can buy a textbook on a specific subject - the EB's problem is that it perhaps has too much information for the casual reader, but too little information for the serious student. But the 12+ feet of leather-bound volumes do look nice :)
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I just remembered that mine were delivered in boxes, the contents of which were marked in big letters as 'adult entertainment'. I'm fairly certain they changed that in the intervening years!
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