It is the end of an era, my friends. It’s been evident for quite some time that print is going the way of the dodo. Now, with the beloved Encyclopedia Britannica ending their print publication and going digital, we are one step closer to the paperless future. The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopedia still in production, with the series first being published in Scotland in 1768. Now, almost 250 years later, countless volumes of information are being condensed into an application.

It will be interesting to see how Britannica fares against the information juggernaut Wikipedia, the current go-to source for getting your learn on. Will the encyclopedia’s trusted brand be enough to sway people away from Jimmy Wales and his chokehold on knowledge? There’s a lot of free information available on the internet. Microsoft’s own Encarta encyclopedia shut its digital doors in 2009. Let’s hope Britannica has a fighting chance.