Senior managers at Britannica were confident in their control of the market and that their healthy profits would continue.Īnd they did, for a while. In the 1980s, on the insistence of Bill Gates, Microsoft approached Britannica to collaborate on a CD-ROM encyclopedia, but the offer was declined. The fundamental value proposition for Britannica was alleviating parents’ guilt around their children's education and signaling to the world "I care about my kids and have enough money to spend $2,000 on a set of books", which the in-home sales experience maximized.įun fact: Market research demonstrated that the encyclopedias were opened less than once a year, on average.īritannica's guilt-inducing mechanism worked and by 1990, Britannica dominated the $1 billion encyclopedia market with a 7,500-strong worldwide salesforce, selling over 110,000 and generating $650 million in revenue that year.īut while Britannica executives where shopping for a car that said "I'm a clever intellectual with Fuck You Money" something in Seattle was brewing. The first edition had three volumes but then the encyclopedia grew in size: the second edition was 10 volumes, and by its fourth edition (1801–1810) it had expanded to 20 volumes.Īs it grew in size, it grew in revenue by establishing a reputation as a solid, authoritative and comprehensive source of content, which was cemented by continually revising and adding innovative features like an atlas.Īfter some initial traction in the institutional market (think libraries), Britannica recognized the opportunity behind the homes market and created an aggressive and direct sales force that targeted middle income families by going door to door. His extensive collection, which includes educational software of all subjects and for all ages, is an excellent example of the merging of work and play, and helps encourage us all to remember that "Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.In 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland the first Encyclopaedia Britannica was published. Warren Buckleitner, editor of "Children's Technology Review" and a doctor of educational psychology, has donated a representative sample of this diverse and still-growing medium. Learning has never been easier, nor so enjoyable. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is now in digital format, allowing for easy searches. Video games such as Math Blasters allow children to explore fantastic worlds based on numbers and equations. High school students can electronically practice for the SATs, while aspiring lawyers can find sample LSAT questions. Software programs now teach children math, science, grammar, spelling, typing, and foreign languages. Counting games, alphabet blocks, and activity books have long been staples of "fun learning," and these have most recently been supplemented by educational technology. Parents, teachers, and other educators have continuously sought ways to instruct children in a fun and interactive way.
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