Name: Louise Nicole Dairo Date: Oct.

1, 2022

04_Activity_1(14)

1. Would you consider Encyclopedia Britannica's decision to discontinue the

printing of hardbound volume an innovation choice? Why or why not?
- No, I wouldn't claim that "Innovation Choice" has replaced physical books with
digital information, and "No Digital Information" will "Never" do so (The Feel to
Touch and Smell).

2. What were the disruptors that made the company arrive at this decision?
Research if necessary.
- According to Mr. William Smith (MBA) from Harvard Business School, it
wasn’t a “disruptor”. That is a simplification of Christiansen’s theory from The
Innovator’s Dilemma which has a great many problems in any case. It’s a
matter of substitution, which is not sudden, but has a predictable pattern
defined as a S-curve over time, with slow initial adoption, a period of rapid
substitution, and a point of saturation.

In this case, it was the substitution of electronic and on-line information for
printed information. In 1990, the print edition of the Britannica sold 120,000
copies. The last print edition, in 2010, had only 10,000 copies printed, which
sold out by 2012.

The Britannica also faced competition in other printed encyclopedias. The

11th edition of 1909 is still a very useful source of information; the Britannica
was dumbed down after that edition for the North American market. Because
of the many sources and competitors, it’s impossible to identify a few single
factors in the Britannica’s decline. To the best of my understanding, there are
no more printed encyclopedias issued on a regular basis.

3. Do you think people will still use Encyclopedia Britannica even if it is not
hardbound anymore? Provide points that prove people would prefer
Encyclopedia Britannica over Wikipedia and other websites or the other way
around.
- Yes, I think so.

a. Provide points that will prove that people will prefer Encyclopedia
Britannica over Wikipedia and other websites.
- The legitimacy of the Encyclopedia is one reason why some people and
professional instructors still favor it over Wikipedia. If you search on
Wikipedia, some of the information you see there might not be accurate after
all because it can be readily altered to contain incorrect ideas or information.
Additionally, the Encyclopedia was reviewed before it was published, making
it a source of information that can be trusted to be more factual and
knowledgeable than Wikipedia.

b. Provide points that will prove that people will prefer Wikipedia over
Encyclopedia Britannica and other websites.

- It's simple, practical, and cost-free for me. I would choose the option that is
easy for me to use and won't cost me money, as opposed to using the
Encyclopedia, which is expensive to use for information. Additionally, its
references may point us in the direction of additional information or help us
locate the information we need. Wikipedia is the most popular website for
word searches and other searches, and it is easily accessible and can be
used whenever there is an internet connection. It is also convenient because
it can be used with mobile devices or laptops rather than a bulky book with 32
volumes in total. Wikipedia is therefore preferred over Encyclopedia
Britannica.