(CNN) -- The world received word yesterday that the publishers of Encyclopedia Britannica would stop producing hardbound, paper copies of their venerable reference. Actually, they stopped in 2010 but didn't tell anyone. Now they've disclosed they've been able to sell just 8,000 copies of the collection. The rest are in a warehouse in Chicago, looking for someone who needs historically accurate, out-of-date information. According to the company, they'll continue publishing online and will sell their services to individuals, schools and libraries. In some respects, that's good. The Web is much more easily updated, more interactive, and can deliver motion, sound, and color simultaneously. In other respects, that's not good, particularly for young readers, older folks, immigrants, and technophobes who'd rather read a book.
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Encyclopedia Britannica announced that it won't print more books
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James O'Rourke says as much as we gain from the Internet, there are also losses
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Britannica's accuracy and availability made it a valuable resource, he says
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O'Rourke: A third of Americans aren't connected to the web
They, too, offer access to the @placeholder, but they also offer a clean, safe, nicely organized source for each of us to find information that's useful, valuable, interesting, and helpful.