I remember as if it was yesterday: I was around 13 years old sitting in front my IBM Aptiva home computer (complete with gigantic energy hungry CRT monitor) surfing the web via a dial up connection on AOL. Green Day was playing through the computer's speakers at levels probably louder than allowed in our house as I flipped back and forth from Encarta to an AOL instant message with some high school girl I was chasing at the time. It was the night before a big research assignment was due for school....
Some of you may remeber the days described above. These were the days long before Google, Wikipedia, and DSL connections when most of us were using Microsoft's Encart Encyclodpedia to find information. We used the mapping features of Encarta like we use Google Earth today. Of course, we didn't have satelite images but no one even knew what they were back then. Those days are long gone and now, we must also say goodbye to Encarta.
Microsoft reports that Encarta will shut down globally on December 31, 2009. By June, Encarta will have vanished from store shelves. Nevertheless, Microsoft promises to provide support for the product for another three years.
So what has caused the death of Encarta? Microsoft credits Wikipedia, Google, and other free premium research providers. Software users are already struggling in a deepening recession and fees for research software are no longer a priority, espcially since they can get the same information for free.
Microsoft tried to compete with these giant entities but failed miserably. They offered two free hours of search results with their online Encarta service and even integrated the software in to their Live search feature.
So, in the end, we must say goodbye to Encarta. It was fun while it lasted......maybe we will see you again someday on "I Love The 90's".
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