Need More: Props for Microsoft Encarta

When you're original you usually either get recognized or ridiculed. And Microsoft Encarta didn't really get much of anything because people completely forgot about it.

But that's not right. You can't just let such an ol' g die without giving it some props. Encarta deserves to be saluted because it was pretty much Wikipedia before Wikipedia existed.

If Microsoft Encarta were a person, he would be wearing skinny jeans and flannel shirts before they were "cool." He'd be a real trailblazer if you will.

Microsoft Encarta is the guy who gets abused and puts in all the hard work to try to make something happen, and then some other asshole comes in, steals his glory and gets the hot chick. That's right, Wikipedia is a thunder-stealer. And it's not even considered a legitimate source of information by educational institutions!

The first Encarta came out in '93. And I remember when my family got our first computer for Christmas in '95, this was one of the programs in the package. You could just put the CD in the drive and look up random articles on anything you want (This is pretty much what I do with Wikipedia now when I'm bored at work).

Whenever there was a project in school my right hand man was always Encarta. He was the perfect teammate because he just knew all the answers and made my life so much easier.

Then the school bully Wikipedia came around. I mean, when you actually think about it, Wikipedia is so much better it's not even close. There's over 18 million articles to Encarta's 62,000. Plus it's free and is pretty much accessible anywhere. I guess the edge Encarta has is that it had some really cool images and sounds compared to Wikipedia's blandness. It's like looking at a picture book and a novel. There's no comparison. But the fatal flaw of Wikipedia is what made it so great in the first place - anyone can edit or add information to pages. That explains why there are so many articles (on some very random topics). But that also partly explains why many people don't consider it a legitimate source of information. Anything could be posted as fact.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that we need to give Encarta some props. Wikipedia just followed in it's footsteps and took a good thing and made it great. But everyone forgets the guy who made all the sacrifices.

As a side note, I was forced to get all the info on Encarta from Wikipedia. That's because Encarta was ended in 2009. It's like forced cannibalism. It just feels so wrong. Also, have you ever thought about wikipedia-ing Wikipedia? Thinking about that just blew my mind.

Here's the first 5 random Wikipedia articles that came up from my search:
1). East-west Line
2). James Whales
3). Cotwall End Valley
4). Nachtigal Peak
5). Catalan Communist Party

You just learn something new everyday.