| Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 Ultimate Edition (PC DVD ROM) | 
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| From: Focus Multimedia Ltd
Category: Software
List Price: £39.99
Buy New: £26.99
You Save: £13.00 (33%)
Buy New from £27.48
Avg. Customer Rating:   (6 reviews)
Sales Rank: 434
Platforms: Mac Os X, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows Xp
Media: DVD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5031366020987
ASIN: B000UNRNXO
Release Date: September 24, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Extremely disappointing, shallow and boring October 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The last time I consulted Britannica was almost a decade and a half ago, of course that was a printed version. As such I was extremely excited and curious about what the evolution of the encyclopaedia would be in the digital format. I was tired of Wikipedia for supposedly not offering cross-referenced content that I could swear by and thought that it was a mature move to invest money on this reference software.
Now that I have it installed in my computer and started to do my usual researches I confess that I am scandalised about how shallow and boring Britannica still continues to be. Let's do a research on Ancient Egypt, Horus for example, whereas Wikipedia brings tons of images to illustrate each god, Britannica tries to pass a couple of minuscule black and white photographs which do not even appear in the articles. The amount of information given in most "articles" is minuscule compared to Encarta 2000 and is dwarfed by Wikipedia even when you start clicking on all those related topics strewn as an academic tag cloud.
Britannica believes in the power of verbose, but not the verbose that makes you sit and listen. It is the kind of general explanation that tries to be so impartial that simply makes any subject sound as lame as a fried egg recipe. It is the reference book that is afraid to commit itself to anything else than the strictly necessary to cover a subject. They pride themselves that most articles are written by experts and Nobel laureates, and one can almost tell how expensive these writers might be since the articles are so short and poorly illustrated if at all.
A search for the most up-to-date topics, such as "subprime mortgage" or "credit crunch" will yield no results. Try researching for "spread betting" a practice that has become very popular with the market fluctuations and if you compare Britannica with Wikipedia you will see that Britannica simply leaves you as ignorant as before you started the research. Cross linking is equally poor and the interface asks you to adopt a browsing attitude that is always taking you away from an article to check an enormous list of related topics presented on another screen. It reminds you of those early terminal computer systems of the 70's.
To put it simply, it is a mess and uninteresting. Literally a book of shallow generalities squeezed into a DVD. Damn, it makes Wikipedia look pretty good actually.
The elementary and student libraries created for kids and adolescents are so detached from reality that just makes you wonder how were they meaning to create any interest with a younger audience with such a plain and boring material. Think of a 60-year-old geography teacher trying to be cool, yes there, that is Britannica's elementary and student libraries.
 Not the same as the printed edition! February 4, 2008
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I bought this based on having had the print version as a child and the advertising saying that contained everything that is in the print version. If it is I cannot find it. Anything I have looked up has no more than a few paragraphs of information. Disappointed and would not bother with it much now as the few times I have referred to it, it has given little information and not the information I sought
 Why Choose Any Other? January 14, 2008
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic knowledge-based tool; a permanent fixture of my own personal learning. It contains a children's library, a student's library and an adult's library. From the outset you get the opportunity to choose which one suits the level of your interests. All of the articles are accessible and concise, and with a free years subscription to Britannica encyclopedia, what else can you ask for? Knowing all this, why choose any other?
 Interesting but not much depth January 6, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I like Britannica 2008 Ultimate Edition, I bought it for the full price elsewhere. I am a bit disappointed at that. I should have looked on Amazon first :-(
I also have the printed Britannica including Micropedia and Macropedia. Supposedly this contains all the articles from the printed edition, but the printed edition just seeeeeeeeems to have far more depth. I much prefer the printed edition. Most articles on the DVD seem very brief, being only a few paragraphs long at most.
On the other hand this DVD edition makes it very easy indeed to find information, and amazingly fast. I especially love the animated brainstorming tool.
There are "Further Reading" sections for some articles. I wish there were more: if every article listed at least one pointer to a more in depth source it would be so much more valuable to me.
Overall I think I am going to find it useful, if only to quickly identify relating topics to better plan my research.
And Vista Compatible December 31, 2007
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I was not sure whether to get Britannica or Encarta and having looked at the reviews was hedging on the side of Encarta, however, one thing made the final choice for me. Britannica is the only one which works with Vista. Now that I have used it, I am glad I made this choice. Although Britannica has all the Bells and Whistles of the animations, it can also be used as a serious reference tool. The articles are informative and I have used them in my teaching and research. As the previous reviewer outlines there are a great many of them and I have found everything I have wanted or needed so far and in enough detail to be interesting. The lack of the child friendliness of encarta is not missed as there are no children in my household. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to do background research and I feel it would be excellent for teenagers to use as a starting point for their research or studies. Well worth every penny and Amazon appears to sell it for the best price.
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