How did Britannica, the once-famous encyclopedia manufacturer, grow into a giant in the Wikipedia era?
Encyclopedia Britannica , which appeared in the late 18th century and has long been known as a representative of excellent encyclopedias, is planning an IPO in the modern era of online encyclopedias and Wikipedia, and is expected to be valued at $1 billion (about 157 billion yen). CEO George Coase spoke to The New York Times about the secret of this strength, despite the fact that publication of the print version ended in 2010.
Britannica, Onetime Encyclopedia Publisher, Pushes AI Tools - The New York Times
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Corporate Site
https://corporate.britannica.com/company_info.html (Internet archive as of October 28, 2011)
Justin Arn on LinkedIn: Britannica Didn't Just Survive. It's an AI Company Now.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7275876315742756864
The Encyclopedia Britannica was first published in 1768. It was originally composed of three volumes, but the second edition published in 1777 consisted of 10 volumes, the fourth edition published in 1801 consisted of 20 volumes, and the content gradually expanded, until the 15th edition published in 2010 consisted of 32 volumes.
The publisher, Encycolopædia Britanninca, Inc., has changed hands seven times. Initially, Scottish publishers Andrew Bell and Colin MacFarquhar commissioned scholar William Smellie to edit the book. In the 19th century, the rights were transferred to an American company, and in 1999, Swiss investor Jackie Safra bought it from the Benton Foundation. Since then, it has been a subsidiary of Safra.
Past contributors include Sir Walter Scott, known for his novel 'Ivanhoe' and poetry, economists Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo, economist and historian James Mill, physicist Thomas Young, psychologist Sigmund Freud, physicist Albert Einstein, physicist Marie Curie, philosopher Leon Trotsky, and magician Harry Houdini.
Houdini, one of the contributors
Books with a lot of content, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, have been criticized for being outdated because it takes a long time to revise them. In contrast, the online encyclopedia 'Wikipedia,' which appeared in 2001, uses the 'Wiki' system, which allows an unspecified number of users to edit content, so articles are created and the content is edited immediately for new topics.
However, since the Encyclopedia Britannica is different from Wikipedia in that its articles are vetted by experts, it does not seem that the emergence of Wikipedia has made management difficult.
In terms of digitalization, Encyclopedia Britannica was released in CD-ROM in 1989 and online in 1994. The print version was discontinued in 2010 due to a gradual decline in sales.
Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica
On the other hand, in parallel with the development of the digital version, in 2002, they started a comprehensive educational service designed for elementary and junior high schools, and in 2000, they acquired Melingo, an AI agent software company that specializes in natural language processing and machine learning, and are using AI for content creation, fact checking, and translation. They are also actively expanding into emerging markets such as India, Brazil, and Thailand to respond to the rapid growth of digital education.
As a result, Britannica's websites now serve users in more than 150 countries, receive more than 7 billion page views per year, and are expected to be valued at $1 billion in a planned initial public offering.
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