Encyclopedia | Encarta [extra Quality]
A full print Britannica set cost $1,500+ (in 1990s dollars). Encarta cost $50-100, or often came free with a new PC. For the first time, a middle-class family with a computer could have reference depth rivaling a small university library. Where Encarta Faltered (The Weaknesses) 1. The "Britannica Problem" – Depth & Authority To fit on a CD-ROM (650MB), Encarta had to be shallow . A typical Encarta article was a short summary (500-2000 words). Britannica's print edition had long-form, scholarly articles (e.g., 20,000 words on "China") written by Nobel laureates. Encarta's content came from Funk & Wagnalls —respectable but not top-tier academic. Teachers and librarians openly dismissed it as "Encyclopedia Lite."
| Feature | Encarta (2002) | Wikipedia (2004) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | $50-100 / year | Free | | Size | ~50,000 articles | ~500,000 articles (and growing daily) | | Updates | Annual CD / online sub | Real-time, minute-by-minute | | Depth | Short, summary articles | Deep, hyperlinked, evolving | | Authority | Centralized, professional editors | Decentralized, community consensus | | Errors | Fixed in next version | Fixed in seconds | | Multimedia | Licensed clips & maps | Free media + embedded YouTube | encyclopedia encarta
The 1990s CD-ROM aesthetic aged poorly. Clunky video compression (160x120 pixels, blocky), MIDI background music, and "interactive" features that were often just clickable pictures. The interface varied wildly between versions—some were clean, others were overloaded with toolbars and tabs. A full print Britannica set cost $1,500+ (in 1990s dollars)
Encarta didn't die because it was bad. It died because the internet made the very concept of a shrink-wrapped encyclopedia irrelevant. In that sense, Encarta was both a pioneer and a martyr—it showed us the digital future, then was crushed by it. Where Encarta Faltered (The Weaknesses) 1
★★★★☆ (4/5) – Revolutionary for its era. Rating (as a reference work today): ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5) – Completely obsolete.
Encarta contained only what Microsoft licensed. There were no external links (until late versions), no community edits, no way to add local knowledge. It was a static snapshot, carefully curated, and increasingly irrelevant as the open web exploded. The Turning Point: Wikipedia Arrives (2001) The launch of Wikipedia was the beginning of the end. Compare:
