DLog
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The end of Encarta encyclopedia?
It looks like the reign of Encarta as the leader in consumer electronic encyclopedias is coming to an end. With the release of Microsoft Student, the amount of encyclopedic content added was slowing down, with an emphasize shifting towards homework tools. Starting around the same time in 2006, the amount of articles and media have fluctuated as well, sometimes going down and then gradually increasing as "improved features" for the next year. Coincidently, in July 2006 Microsoft contracted out the maintenance of Encarta to Websters Multimedia Inc, a subsidiary of UK-based Websters International Publishers. According to Webster's website, the majority of their editorial team have worked in house for Microsoft as either staff or contractors.
Having worked in the software industry and have gone through the slow and agonizing downsizing of a company due to changing markets, this does not look good for the continuing survival of Encarta as an leading-edge education product. Here are some thoughts on this conjecture.
1. The slowing down of adding innovative features and content shows the product is reaching maturity status, with no expected new growth and just a steady or even declining customer base.
2. The contracting of maintenance means the management does not see the product as fitting in their core-focus to maximizing return on investment, and it is time to phase it out. Reading between the lines from Websters statement that "the majority of their editorial team have worked in house for Microsoft as either staff or contractors", it sounds like the editorial team from Encarta was laid off but was luckily rehired by Websters. This follows a classic path of phasing out a product.
3. A disc-based encyclopedia no longer has the the killer-app factor as it had in the late 1990's, so value of an associated encyclopedia brand does not add much value to the company. Of the old competitors, such as Comptons, Grolier, World Book and Britannica, only Britannica survived in the consumer market. Of the new competitors such as Wikipedia, companies have only limited success in convincing consumers that convenient, edited, accurate and objective content is worth paying for.
4. The marketing of Encarta 2009 is greatly reduced. The 2009 edition of Encarta does not appear to be available at the retail level yet. Usually the next year edition of Encarta is available by August or September, by so far it appears to be available only as a direct purchase from Microsoft. Some product links on the Microsoft site still points to previous version of the product (from 2006 to 2008), no press release have been written, and viewing the current product information requires the installation of Silverlight. This all seems to point to a phase out.
As a fan of reference works, it is a little sad to see how Encarta is slowly ending.
Having bought and used Encarta over the last decade, I can look back with fond memories: browsing through what seems like an infinite list of articles; following the evolution of the user interface interface; feel the excitement with major additions of content such the sidebars, the Collier yearbooks, and the book summaries. Thank you Encarta for being part of my lifelong learning.
Having worked in the software industry and have gone through the slow and agonizing downsizing of a company due to changing markets, this does not look good for the continuing survival of Encarta as an leading-edge education product. Here are some thoughts on this conjecture.
1. The slowing down of adding innovative features and content shows the product is reaching maturity status, with no expected new growth and just a steady or even declining customer base.
2. The contracting of maintenance means the management does not see the product as fitting in their core-focus to maximizing return on investment, and it is time to phase it out. Reading between the lines from Websters statement that "the majority of their editorial team have worked in house for Microsoft as either staff or contractors", it sounds like the editorial team from Encarta was laid off but was luckily rehired by Websters. This follows a classic path of phasing out a product.
3. A disc-based encyclopedia no longer has the the killer-app factor as it had in the late 1990's, so value of an associated encyclopedia brand does not add much value to the company. Of the old competitors, such as Comptons, Grolier, World Book and Britannica, only Britannica survived in the consumer market. Of the new competitors such as Wikipedia, companies have only limited success in convincing consumers that convenient, edited, accurate and objective content is worth paying for.
4. The marketing of Encarta 2009 is greatly reduced. The 2009 edition of Encarta does not appear to be available at the retail level yet. Usually the next year edition of Encarta is available by August or September, by so far it appears to be available only as a direct purchase from Microsoft. Some product links on the Microsoft site still points to previous version of the product (from 2006 to 2008), no press release have been written, and viewing the current product information requires the installation of Silverlight. This all seems to point to a phase out.
As a fan of reference works, it is a little sad to see how Encarta is slowly ending.
Having bought and used Encarta over the last decade, I can look back with fond memories: browsing through what seems like an infinite list of articles; following the evolution of the user interface interface; feel the excitement with major additions of content such the sidebars, the Collier yearbooks, and the book summaries. Thank you Encarta for being part of my lifelong learning.
Labels: Encarta, encyclopedias, reference
¶ 6:17 AM
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Encarta: upgrade to get less?
Microsoft Encarta gives you less when you upgrade.
In using Student 2006 and Student 2009, less encyclopedic content is evident everywhere. The number of articles has been reduced by 6000. The number of media in articles were reduced. The video of the Return of Hong Kong was replaced by a picture, and the picture was listed under the video section. Excerpts from Chinese philosophical texts were removed. The number of virtual tours were reduced by half. The book summaries no longer have a list by title option. And the list can go on.
In the old days, when the storage capacity of the delivery media is a limiting factor (e.g. a CD holds 600M), some features are scaled back to make room for new features. An example was the removal of "collages" in Encarta. But in the modern era of high capacity DVDs, and when there is more than a gigabyte of space left on a DVD, it makes much less sense to reduce multimedia and article counts. In releases of Encarta from 2005 to 2008, there is always something that is reduced. Remaining space on the delivery medium certainly cannot be a factor.
| Year | # articles | # pictures | # sound clips | #animations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 68,000 | 25,000 | 2,800 | 400 |
| 2006 | 68,000 | 25,000 | 2,500 | 300 |
| 2007 | 66,000 | 26,000 | 3,000 | 300 |
| 2008 | 60,000 | 25,000 | 3,800 | 800 (incl. activities) |
| 2009 | 62,000 | ? | ? | ? |
In using Student 2006 and Student 2009, less encyclopedic content is evident everywhere. The number of articles has been reduced by 6000. The number of media in articles were reduced. The video of the Return of Hong Kong was replaced by a picture, and the picture was listed under the video section. Excerpts from Chinese philosophical texts were removed. The number of virtual tours were reduced by half. The book summaries no longer have a list by title option. And the list can go on.
In the old days, when the storage capacity of the delivery media is a limiting factor (e.g. a CD holds 600M), some features are scaled back to make room for new features. An example was the removal of "collages" in Encarta. But in the modern era of high capacity DVDs, and when there is more than a gigabyte of space left on a DVD, it makes much less sense to reduce multimedia and article counts. In releases of Encarta from 2005 to 2008, there is always something that is reduced. Remaining space on the delivery medium certainly cannot be a factor.
Labels: Encarta, encyclopedias, reference
¶ 4:31 PM
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Whither the reference books
A conversation about reference books overheard in Dave's mindscape.
Devon: Hey Dave, there are some new editions of science dictionaries available, namely Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry, and Biology. Are you going to get them?
Dave: With only 200-300 new entries in each one, I don't think that provides enough value to purchase a newer edition. I bought the current ones in 2006, and they're the 2003/2004 editions, so the contents are reasonably recent. This brings to mind the whole issue of printed reference works in the digital age -- are they still relevant?
Devon: I think that's the Achilles heel with any printed reference works -- not being up to date. You mentioned this issue in talking about buying printed science dictionaries before, that books still have the advantage of being portable, editor reviewed, and at times convenient.
Dave: Those advantages still hold true, although the quality of web information has improved too, and the updated aspects is a strong plus for internet information. This issue is exemplified by another recent quandary. I saw a used and good condition set of Encyclopedia Britannica in a thrift store. It was the 15th edition from 1976. $60 for the 20 volumes of Macropedia plus Propedia, and $40 for the set of 10 volumes of Micropedia.
Devon: At less than $5 per volume, that seems like a great buy, considering a new set costs $1300. That's about 1/13 the price!
Dave: That's right, yet the key drawback that stopped me from buying that impressive shelf anchor piece is that it is more than thirty years old. Furthermore, I could get the Britannica 2008 software for less than half that price. While the historic, biographical and fundamental information is still accurate, science and recent world developments in the last quarter century will be missing.
Devon: I can see why the printed encyclopedia market is in decline. If there was no digital alternative, the thrift store buy would be excellent. But the low-cost software and free internet sources available, spending $1000 or even $100 for a outdated dead-tree version doesn't seem to make sense anymore.
Dave: There were other encyclopedias at the thrift store too, such as World Book, Colliers, and New Book of Knowledge. And also CD encyclopedias such as Grolier's, Compton's, and Encarta from the before 1999. So in a sense all non-internet encyclopedias also face the same problem.
Devon: Hey Dave, there are some new editions of science dictionaries available, namely Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry, and Biology. Are you going to get them?
Dave: With only 200-300 new entries in each one, I don't think that provides enough value to purchase a newer edition. I bought the current ones in 2006, and they're the 2003/2004 editions, so the contents are reasonably recent. This brings to mind the whole issue of printed reference works in the digital age -- are they still relevant?
Devon: I think that's the Achilles heel with any printed reference works -- not being up to date. You mentioned this issue in talking about buying printed science dictionaries before, that books still have the advantage of being portable, editor reviewed, and at times convenient.
Dave: Those advantages still hold true, although the quality of web information has improved too, and the updated aspects is a strong plus for internet information. This issue is exemplified by another recent quandary. I saw a used and good condition set of Encyclopedia Britannica in a thrift store. It was the 15th edition from 1976. $60 for the 20 volumes of Macropedia plus Propedia, and $40 for the set of 10 volumes of Micropedia.
Devon: At less than $5 per volume, that seems like a great buy, considering a new set costs $1300. That's about 1/13 the price!
Dave: That's right, yet the key drawback that stopped me from buying that impressive shelf anchor piece is that it is more than thirty years old. Furthermore, I could get the Britannica 2008 software for less than half that price. While the historic, biographical and fundamental information is still accurate, science and recent world developments in the last quarter century will be missing.
Devon: I can see why the printed encyclopedia market is in decline. If there was no digital alternative, the thrift store buy would be excellent. But the low-cost software and free internet sources available, spending $1000 or even $100 for a outdated dead-tree version doesn't seem to make sense anymore.
Dave: There were other encyclopedias at the thrift store too, such as World Book, Colliers, and New Book of Knowledge. And also CD encyclopedias such as Grolier's, Compton's, and Encarta from the before 1999. So in a sense all non-internet encyclopedias also face the same problem.
Labels: Britannica, dictionary, encyclopedias, reference, science
¶ 11:49 PM
Friday, October 27, 2006
Periodic Table - 118, long form, other versions
With the (re)discovery of element 118 announced recently, it gave me an opportunity to update my periodic table. It turned out I did the update exactly one year after I posted my version. What a coincidence!
A year ago I wrote about some non-standardness in treating what is in the lanthanide and actinide series. With this update, I resolved that issue by referring to the pattern of the elements in the long form of the periodic table. The most common form of the table (also the form of my table) puts the lanthanide and actinide series separated from the main table. But really these two series fit into the regular pattern of the table, as shown below in the "long form" of the table.
In this arrangement, one sees that the series are from La-Yb and Ac-No, and the elements Lu and Lr that are often part of the series are in fact the start of the next block.
I was also curious about other English-Chinese periodic tables. A search on the phrase "english chinese periodic table" turns up only my version. That was a little less than what I expected. After all, with billions of web pages in existence, there must be other science enthusiasts out there who have made other version. As the new saying goes, if you first don't succeed, try other keywords. A search on "chinese english periodic table" finds one by Dr. Kia-Boon Wong.
http://www.esaurus.org/chemical_element.htm
Another good version is by Michael Dayah.
http://www.dayah.com/periodic/?lang=zh_tw
A year ago I wrote about some non-standardness in treating what is in the lanthanide and actinide series. With this update, I resolved that issue by referring to the pattern of the elements in the long form of the periodic table. The most common form of the table (also the form of my table) puts the lanthanide and actinide series separated from the main table. But really these two series fit into the regular pattern of the table, as shown below in the "long form" of the table.
In this arrangement, one sees that the series are from La-Yb and Ac-No, and the elements Lu and Lr that are often part of the series are in fact the start of the next block.
I was also curious about other English-Chinese periodic tables. A search on the phrase "english chinese periodic table" turns up only my version. That was a little less than what I expected. After all, with billions of web pages in existence, there must be other science enthusiasts out there who have made other version. As the new saying goes, if you first don't succeed, try other keywords. A search on "chinese english periodic table" finds one by Dr. Kia-Boon Wong.
http://www.esaurus.org/chemical_element.htm
Another good version is by Michael Dayah.
http://www.dayah.com/periodic/?lang=zh_tw
Labels: periodic table, reference, science
¶ 9:34 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Feature Articles = Marketing in Science Dictionaries
The Oxford science dictionaries say they included some "one- or two- page feature articles on important topics, and chronologies tracing the history of the key areas in...". While these features and chronologies contains useful information, in the scope of the dictionary they are just marketing devices. There aren't enough of them to represent the breadth of the subjects. For example, is GMO and Animal Learning the only two important topics in biology? Here are the lists of the features in the three key science dictionaries.
Biology
Biology
- biochemistry chronology
- cell biology chronology
- genetically modified organisms
- genetic chronology
- learning in animals
- microscopy chronology
- vitamins chronology
- atomic theory chronology
- biochemistry chronology
- crystal defects
- explosives chronology
- plastics chronology
- polymers
- atomic theory chronology
- big-bang theory
- cosmology chronology
- crystal defects
- electrical conductivity
- electronics chronology
- free-electron theory
- microscopy chronology
- magnetic resonance imaging
- optical astronomical telescopes
- solar system
Labels: dictionary, reference, science
¶ 7:14 AM 0 Comments
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Periodic Table - what standards?
So one would think there are fixed criteria for organizing the periodic table. But soon after I made my version available on the web, I discovered that other tables are not so consistent in several areas. In fact, even my reference materials don't agree on those points.
1. What is the official range of the lanthanide and actinide series? In particular, does it include lanthanum/lutetium and actinium/lawrencium? It seems like it does, but some tables put one of the start/end elements in the main table.
2. Which elements are in the other/poor metals?
3. Which elements are in the semi-metal/metalloids?
4. Are there two series with other metals/non-metals, or three with poor metals, semi-metals, and non-metals?
5. Does the halogens have their own series, or are lump together with non-metals?
6. Which series does hydrogen belong to?
7. Is it lanthanide/actine or lanthanoid/actinoid?
No wonder everyone wants to have their own version of the table to match what they believe is the correct classification! I'll update my table once I have these issues sorted out.
1. What is the official range of the lanthanide and actinide series? In particular, does it include lanthanum/lutetium and actinium/lawrencium? It seems like it does, but some tables put one of the start/end elements in the main table.
2. Which elements are in the other/poor metals?
3. Which elements are in the semi-metal/metalloids?
4. Are there two series with other metals/non-metals, or three with poor metals, semi-metals, and non-metals?
5. Does the halogens have their own series, or are lump together with non-metals?
6. Which series does hydrogen belong to?
7. Is it lanthanide/actine or lanthanoid/actinoid?
No wonder everyone wants to have their own version of the table to match what they believe is the correct classification! I'll update my table once I have these issues sorted out.
Labels: periodic table, reference, science
¶ 12:18 AM 0 Comments
Saturday, October 15, 2005
English Chinese Periodic Table of Elements 英漢元素周期表
I love reference material, and the periodic table of elements is one of my favorite charts. I like how it presents a dense amount of information in a small space and in an organized way. I especially like how the layout of the table also convey important information about the nature of the elements.
I am currently doing some personal studying in chemistry/physics areas, using primarily a Chinese text. What I wish I had was a periodic table with the standard information (atomic number, atomic weight, symbol, name) AND with Chinese names of the elements. I couldn't find something with all those parts on the net, so I created my own version. Here it is for all to share:
Color version of English/Chinese periodic table of elements (PDF 110K)
I hope other bilingual science enthusiasts will find it useful too!
I am currently doing some personal studying in chemistry/physics areas, using primarily a Chinese text. What I wish I had was a periodic table with the standard information (atomic number, atomic weight, symbol, name) AND with Chinese names of the elements. I couldn't find something with all those parts on the net, so I created my own version. Here it is for all to share:
Color version of English/Chinese periodic table of elements (PDF 110K)
I hope other bilingual science enthusiasts will find it useful too!
Labels: periodic table, reference, science
¶ 11:16 PM 0 Comments
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
New Microsoft educational products
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jun05/06-28NECCProductsPR.mspx
Microsoft has announced their new education products. They include:
Microsoft has announced their new education products. They include:
- Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office: a set of add-ons to Office XP/2003 that includes toolbars, tutorials and templates for common student tasks.
- Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP: software tools and documentation for locking down shared computers. A public beta of this is available at http://www.microsoft.com/sharedaccess
- Microsoft Student 2006: "a productivity resource to help middle- and high-school students complete high-quality homework assignments and projects". Features include:
- "Graphing Calculator software to help students visualize and understand difficult math and science concepts through 2-D and 3-D graphing capabilities
- Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office
- Additional tools streamline Internet searches to provide trusted Encarta content
It is interesting to note that they are not marketing this as "Encarta plus extra stuff", but rather as a student productivity suite. In fact, they only subtly say that Encarta is included as part of the product. - "Graphing Calculator software to help students visualize and understand difficult math and science concepts through 2-D and 3-D graphing capabilities
- Encarta Academic Online: "a new academic-specific, online version of Microsoft's reference library, suite of homework tools and rich multimedia content. Encarta Academic Online features a new interface optimized for academic searches and gives students one-click access to Encarta reference content in seven languages for 11 countries."
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Sneak peek at microsoft student graphing calculator
Here is a peek at the graphic calculator application included as part of the Microsoft Student 2006 product. ¶ 10:02 PM 0 Comments
Here is a peek at the graphic calculator application included as part of the Microsoft Student 2006 product. ¶ 10:02 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Microsoft Encarta 2006 marketing
With the release date only a few weeks away, I'm surprised to find very little advanced information about the product. One interesting thing that I have noticed is that the package now contains both CD's and DVD's. This makes a lot of sense, since it is much cheaper to include the extra disks in the package than to come up with a different package that differs in just the disks.
It looks like there is some price changes too. The 2005 version sells for $100 Cnd. The 2006 version sells for $80. That sounds great -- less money for more stuff. But the marketing department is one step ahead. The new Microsoft Student 2006, which includes Encarta and more stuff, sells for $120. So does one pay less money for the old stuff which will be psychologically viewed as junk because now one can pay more money for newer stuff. Clever those marketing people. ¶ 10:38 AM 0 Comments
It looks like there is some price changes too. The 2005 version sells for $100 Cnd. The 2006 version sells for $80. That sounds great -- less money for more stuff. But the marketing department is one step ahead. The new Microsoft Student 2006, which includes Encarta and more stuff, sells for $120. So does one pay less money for the old stuff which will be psychologically viewed as junk because now one can pay more money for newer stuff. Clever those marketing people. ¶ 10:38 AM 0 Comments
Friday, June 17, 2005
Microsoft Encarta 2006 and a look back
The tagline on Encarta 2006 says "the complete companion to research and the internet". It is interesting to compare that to the 1994 version's tagline "the complete multimedia encyclopedia". Here is a table showing the content and media changes between the 1994, 2005, and 2006 versions.
¶ 7:13 PM 1 Comments
| Feature/Version | 2006 Standard | 2006 Premium | 2005 Premium | 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles | 50’000+ | 68’000 | 68'000 | 26'000 |
| Photos & Illustrations | 12’000+ | 25’000+ | 25’000+ | 7'000 |
| Videos & Animations | 55 | 300+ | 300+ | 100+ |
| Sound & Music Clips | 1’000+ | 2’500+ | 2'500 | 8 hours |
| Map Locations | 36’000 | 1,8 Million | 1,8 Million | 800 |
| Links to Web Sites | 29’000+ | 29’000+ | 29’000+ | none |
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Microsoft Encarta 2006
Microsoft Encarta 2006 is coming soon. Early indications shows the following two new features:
New! Web Companion
Shows trusted content search results from most any search engine without launching any additional applications. Encarta content is provide alongside the search results, so users can choose which information better suits their needs.
New! User Interface
Find the content and resources you need quickly and easily. You can sort the information by relevancy or group results by type such as by article or media.
So it is continuing the trend of incremental changes. ¶ 9:46 AM 0 Comments
Microsoft Encarta 2006 is coming soon. Early indications shows the following two new features:
New! Web Companion
Shows trusted content search results from most any search engine without launching any additional applications. Encarta content is provide alongside the search results, so users can choose which information better suits their needs.
New! User Interface
Find the content and resources you need quickly and easily. You can sort the information by relevancy or group results by type such as by article or media.
So it is continuing the trend of incremental changes. ¶ 9:46 AM 0 Comments
Microsoft Student 2006 info
Now that I'm in the education field, I'm looking forward to Microsoft's new product "Microsoft Student 2006". Think of it as Encarta plus homework templates plus a graphing calculator.
Here's information from http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=735440
Microsoft Student 2006 (Shipping Early July)
Microsoft Student 2006 is a new tool designed to make doing homework--long a source of mental anguish for students--less about headaches and more about learning. It is a cross between Microsoft's online Encyclopedia Encarta, a customizable search engine, and its Office productivity suite--geared specifically to the needs of students.
Features include:
Learning Essentials
Provides tools, templates and tutorials for the application students use most, like Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel & PowerPoint), to help students create high quality reports and presentations. (Requires Office XP, Office 2003 or Office Student & Teacher 2003).
Graphing/Scientific Calculator Software
Full-feature graphing calculator helps students visualize and solve math and science problems.
Web Companion
Provides editorially approved content without launching additional applications when students search for information on the Internet.
Online Math Homework Help
Step-by-step tutorials help students solve math questions representing specific problems taken directly from popular math textbooks used in schools.
Encarta Encyclopedia
With smart searching, students can instantly find rich, reliable, and up-to-date content on practically any subject. ¶ 12:21 AM 0 Comments
Now that I'm in the education field, I'm looking forward to Microsoft's new product "Microsoft Student 2006". Think of it as Encarta plus homework templates plus a graphing calculator.
Here's information from http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=735440
Microsoft Student 2006 (Shipping Early July)
Microsoft Student 2006 is a new tool designed to make doing homework--long a source of mental anguish for students--less about headaches and more about learning. It is a cross between Microsoft's online Encyclopedia Encarta, a customizable search engine, and its Office productivity suite--geared specifically to the needs of students.
Features include:
Learning Essentials
Provides tools, templates and tutorials for the application students use most, like Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel & PowerPoint), to help students create high quality reports and presentations. (Requires Office XP, Office 2003 or Office Student & Teacher 2003).
Graphing/Scientific Calculator Software
Full-feature graphing calculator helps students visualize and solve math and science problems.
Web Companion
Provides editorially approved content without launching additional applications when students search for information on the Internet.
Online Math Homework Help
Step-by-step tutorials help students solve math questions representing specific problems taken directly from popular math textbooks used in schools.
Encarta Encyclopedia
With smart searching, students can instantly find rich, reliable, and up-to-date content on practically any subject. ¶ 12:21 AM 0 Comments
