Last updated at 13:51, Thursday, 15 March 2012

It's the end of civilisation as we know it!

At least for us oldies.

Back when I was at school (when we used pocket calculators instead of laptops and desks had lids so you could hide live animals and Bazooka Joe’s in them), if we didn’t know something, we’d ask Mark Robson (he was a swot) or else, we’d have to go to the library and look through the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

This was a massive collection of maaassively thick books with everything you ever needed to know in them.

They always somehow fell open on the page marked human reproductive system, but they provided all the information you would ever need on any subject.

Now we’re in the age of Google, Wikipedia, the iPad and Kindle , the oldest manufacturer of encyclopedias is cutting its entire print operation after a run of 144 years.

The 32-volume encyclopaedia went online years ago, available on subscription, and last year it launched its own iPhone and iPad apps.

It’s sad, but as Kindle and iPad sales continue to rocket, the days of reading from books look increasingly numbered.

Trouble is, electronic pages just don’t fall open on the rude pages...

First published at 11:27, Thursday, 15 March 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk