According to CNN, Encyclopedia Britannica has printed it's final edition. I'm kinda shocked because I thought they stopped printing those years ago, or at best they were only making them for libraries and universities. For some reason, knowing that there are only a thousand left makes me want to buy one. I'm not going to, but that's how I feel.
When I was little I used to be stuck in the house alone ALL THE TIME. My grandmother would go to work at night and leave me at home with my grandfather who was basically the old guy from Soul Food who never left his room. It's no wonder I'm so boring to my friends nowadays. When I was seven I used to sit in the living room alone at night listening to WTOP (news/talk radio) for hours on end while reading newspapers from cover to cover.
One day I found one book from an old encyclopedia set in the basement. With nothing else to do, I started reading it. Soon I could tell you a little about damned near everything starting with the letter L: Labyrinths, larks, leeks, levers. I read it like it was a novel and when I finished I went searching for the rest. I found them and I engrossed myself in those too. I learned things that solidified my position as a nerd for the rest of my life: ornithology, state flag origins, cartography.
It wasn't all valuable knowledge though. The books were from the 1950s and 60s so a good deal of it was outdated, like the parts referring to computers as huge rooms of machinery. Black people apparently hadn't been invented yet and everything just seemed too happy back then. Still, those books hold a special place in my heart. I learned a lot and they kept me entertained.
I wonder what my life would've been like if I'd had wikipedia and the internet back then. I either would've learned way more or devoted myself to playing Xbox live. (probably the latter)
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