30 Aug 2010 17:58:09
Oxford University Press said it would continue to print the more familiar Oxford Dictionary of English, the single-volume version sold in bookshops and which contains more contemporary entries such as vuvuzela, the plastic trumpet encountered in the 2010 football World Cup.
Mr Portwood said printed dictionaries had a shelf life of about another 30 years, with the pace of change increased by the popularity of e-books and devices such as the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle.
Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary’, said the switch towards online formats was “prescient”.
He said: “Until six months ago I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last for ever. Since the arrival of the iPad I am now wholly convinced otherwise.
“The printed book is about to vanish at extraordinary speed. I have two complete OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY s, but never consult them – I use the online OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY five or six times daily. The same with many of my reference books – and soon with most.
“Books are about to vanish; reading is about to expand as a pastime; these are inescapable realities.”
The first dictionary in recognisable format was Samuel Johnson’s, which was published in 1755. It remained the standard text for 150 years until the OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS embarked on its project in 1879.
The first OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY came out in sections from 1884, completed in 1928.
Despite its worldwide reputation, the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY has never made a profit. The continuing research costs several million pounds a year. “These are the sort of long-term research projects which will never cover their costs, but are something that we choose to do,” Mr Portwood said.
A spokesman for the OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS said a print version of OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 3 could not be ruled out “if there is sufficient demand at the time” but that its completion was “likely to be more than a decade” away.
Mr Portwood said printed dictionaries had a shelf life of about another 30 years, with the pace of change increased by the popularity of e-books and devices such as the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle.
Simon Winchester, author of ‘The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary’, said the switch towards online formats was “prescient”.
He said: “Until six months ago I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last for ever. Since the arrival of the iPad I am now wholly convinced otherwise.
“The printed book is about to vanish at extraordinary speed. I have two complete OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY s, but never consult them – I use the online OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY five or six times daily. The same with many of my reference books – and soon with most.
“Books are about to vanish; reading is about to expand as a pastime; these are inescapable realities.”
The first dictionary in recognisable format was Samuel Johnson’s, which was published in 1755. It remained the standard text for 150 years until the OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS embarked on its project in 1879.
The first OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY came out in sections from 1884, completed in 1928.
Despite its worldwide reputation, the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY has never made a profit. The continuing research costs several million pounds a year. “These are the sort of long-term research projects which will never cover their costs, but are something that we choose to do,” Mr Portwood said.
A spokesman for the OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS said a print version of OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 3 could not be ruled out “if there is sufficient demand at the time” but that its completion was “likely to be more than a decade” away.
