Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!daemon
From: jgreely@oz.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Which books on disc? (was Re: Hundreds of ...)
Message-ID: <26657@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 4 Nov 88 18:03:34 GMT
Sender: daemon@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Lines: 19

I think there are several discussions going on here, with one camp
looking forward to encyclopedias and reference manuals on disc, and
others talking about *new* books.  I don't think anyone wants the
collected works of J Random Hack on electronic media, unless they're a
grad student in English.  But Shakespeare, a good encyclopedia, the
infamous CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (student edition),
and others, will make a decent standard reference library for college
students (who *are* listed as the primary market, for now).

  Reference works are a different kind of publishing, more amenable
to going electronic.  You're not going to convince Ballantine to
switch their fiction market for a looong time, but how about the
Encyclopedia Britannica?  Personally, I want an electronic copy of
the OED.  The four-point type in my compressed edition gets a bit
hard on the eyes.
-- 
J Greely (jgreely@cis.ohio-state.edu; osu-cis!cis.ohio-state.edu!jgreely)
"The motto of the place is 'Knowledge in pursuit of excellence'.
 Not truth, not beauty, not art or science.  Just excellence."