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The Beige Years

How Microsoft's Encarta Accidentally Destroyed Britannica

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Microsoft's board cancelled Encarta, and its first edition sold under 10,000 copies.

Here is how a CD-ROM cut to $99 in 1993, built on a supermarket encyclopedia, toppled Britannica's door-to-door empire.

Subject
Encarta against Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1993
Chapters
8
Sources
8
Credits
38
Corrections
0

Sources

8
  • Interview3
  • Article3
  • Book2

The sources the story leans on most, primary sources first. Read dates are when the page was consulted; the live page may have changed since.

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Article Robert McHenry (Britannica's editor in chief in the 1990s)

    The Building of Britannica Online

    web.archive.org/web/20081205021424/http://www.howtoknow.com/BOL1.html ↗
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]

Image & music credits

38
  • License unknown33
  • CC BY 3.02
  • CC BY 2.01
  • CC BY-SA 3.01

36 photos, 1 music track, from the hosts linked below. Each file name links to the file's page, which carries the full license terms.

#UseFileAuthorLicense
1 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
2 Photo BerlinWall-BrandenburgGate.jpg Sue Ream, photographer (San Francisco, California) CC BY 3.0
3 Photo https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Microsoft logo (1987) + slogan (1994).svg/3840px-Microsoft logo (1987) + slogan (1994).svg.png thumb.wikimedia.org License unknown
4 Photo https://archive.org/download/ENCARTA 93/Encarta 1993.png archive.org License unknown
5 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Encyclopaedia Britannica 15 with 2002.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
6 Photo https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Microsoft logo (1982).svg/3840px-Microsoft logo (1982).svg.png thumb.wikimedia.org License unknown
7 Photo https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Microsoft logo (1987).svg/3840px-Microsoft logo (1987).svg.png thumb.wikimedia.org License unknown
8 Photo https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1992-12-22/page/n392 archive.org License unknown
9 Photo https://archive.org/details/BYTE-1993-04/page/n66 archive.org License unknown
10 Photo https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1992-12-22/page/n372 archive.org License unknown
11 Photo https://archive.org/details/1993-10-compute-magazine/page/n49 archive.org License unknown
12 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat at the White House 1993-09-13.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
13 Photo https://archive.org/details/pc-computing-magazine-v7i12/page/n41 archive.org License unknown
14 Photo https://archive.org/details/home-pc-magazine-1994-12/page/n18 archive.org License unknown
15 Photo 19950904 04 Diversey Harbor (5374185650).jpg David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA CC BY 2.0
16 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Encyclopaedia Britannica 15 with 2002.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
17 Photo Jimmy Wales Fundraiser Appeal.JPG Manuel Archain, Buenos Aires, https://www.manuelarchain.com/ - work for hire, copyright owned by Jimmy Wales CC BY-SA 3.0
18 Photo https://static.digit.in/default/artImg198x166 8987.jpg static.digit.in License unknown
19 Photo https://archive.org/details/Comptons MultiMedia Encyclopedia 1991 Edition Manual/page/n0 archive.org License unknown
20 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/U2 performing at Croke Park on Joshua Tree Tour on June 27 1987.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
21 Photo https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/YvEAAeSw~bRqn0Yq/s-l1200.webp i.ebayimg.com License unknown
22 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
23 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/King William III of England (1650-1702) by Kneller.jpg upload.wikimedia.org License unknown
24 Photo https://www.picclickimg.com/iZEAAOSwE19mXYk3/Vintage-1986-Funk-Wagnalls-New-Encyclopedia-Book.webp www.picclickimg.com License unknown
25 Photo https://archive.org/details/1993-10-compute-magazine/page/n49 archive.org License unknown
26 Photo msn encarta home 20050405.png MSN Encarta, encarta.msn.com, 5 April 2005, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
27 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Joe Biden portrait crop wide.jpg Official portrait of Vice President Joe Biden, 2009 (David Lienemann, The White House) License unknown
28 Photo msn encarta home 20090308.png MSN Encarta, encarta.msn.com, 8 March 2009, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
29 Photo msn encarta faq 20090401.png MSN Encarta FAQ, encarta.msn.com, 1 April 2009, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
30 Photo britannica com home 19991117.png Britannica.com, 17 November 1999, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
31 Photo wikipedia recentchanges 20010613.png Wikipedia, wikipedia.com, 13 June 2001, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
32 Photo nature 438900a 20051217.png Nature (news@nature.com), 14 December 2005, doi:10.1038/438900a, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
33 Photo https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/0SgAAeSw~LpqVqqA/s-l1200.webp i.ebayimg.com License unknown
34 Photo https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/YvEAAeSw~bRqn0Yq/s-l1200.webp i.ebayimg.com License unknown
35 Photo https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Jimmy Wales introducing Richard Stallman at Wikimania (2005-08-07).jpg Jimmy Wales at Wikimania, 7 August 2005 (Wikimedia Commons) License unknown
36 Photo msn encarta masthead 20090308.png MSN Encarta, encarta.msn.com, 8 March 2009, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine License unknown
37 Music Pamgaea (ISRC USUAN1300036).mp3 "Pamgaea" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) CC BY 3.0

Video by cottonbro studio on Pexels

Corrections

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