Obsolete

How time changes things. I remember how important the encyclopedia was while growing up. While thumbing through pages to get to the article I was to research, other fascinating topics would wayside me. Sprawled on the floor with volumes open, I would read and read and read. Then I remember picking up a CD - Encarta '95 - and finding two bookshelves' worth compiled onto one small disc. Fifteen years later, all that information is available within seconds from Google and Wikipedia. Rather than an expert writing an entry, users create millions of peer-reviewed articles, free on the Internet. The knowledge base refines over time as a dynamic system which reflects the evolving world. We still get easily sidetracked from one page to another, but the experience of and access to learning and research has changed so much. Now I don't even know what to do with old encyclopedia volumes; they've become completely obsolete. They are akin to the travel agent or dinosaur - some strange, mythical creature of the past.

Image of encyclopedias is in the public domain, and ironically, from Wikipedia.