Post #2105365

2026-05-05 19:19 UTC

I remember crying for a set of encyclopedias. But they were just too expensive. Eventually we got a cd-rom encyclopedia and it was awful. I wanted an alpabetized, many booked, set of true knowledge. I did NOT want the whir of a cd-rom with a searchable index. I am the searcher of the index, not my mouse!

Replies (4)

@Jason844@mastodon.social 2026-05-05 19:22

@MamaLake I remember buying a cd-rom encyclopedia back in the 1990s. Was thoroughly disappointed. To much multi-media junk, not enough info.

Open ##2105400
@bkahn@beige.party 2026-05-05 19:27

@MamaLake I lived for a while in West Acton, MA which had a pretty but somewhat dated public library. (I'm 77). Its encyclopedia was pre-world war II and the maps were a revelation. No good for middle-school homework, but a revelation on how a big war can change borders. Back when I was a kid encyclopedia salesmen went door to door. We had one at home eventually and I enjoyed choosing a letter and reading topics in alphabetical order. Lots of time for reading before screens invaded our lives.

Open ##2105403
@DenDu68@social.vivaldi.net 2026-05-05 19:52

@MamaLake I can relate, my Pops bought a set for my brothers and I back in the day … I would totally nerd out and just read encyclopedias all the time. I loved that set of books.

Open ##2105405
@tonymasiello@hear-me.social 2026-05-05 22:59

@MamaLake I was very lucky... When I was about ten or eleven, my Mom purchased a set of World Book encyclopedias for me and my siblings. While having them in the house was a great convenience for school work, I spent so many hours just exploring those books. I explored and learned about so many different things, just for the sheer joy of learning. What a wonderful gift that was. It is something we take for granted now that so much information is a mouse click away.

Open ##2105407