Is it really the Encyclopedia Britannica as we might of thought?

Bruce Roth said:

Are images in Logos resources embedded in the resource or are they stored somewhere else?

There's a separate resource for the videos: logosres:comptonsencymedia (note the resource name!).

Super.Tramp said:

This is disturbing

"designed primarily for children and young people in the upper elementary grades and high school and for family use"

I'm going to just wait and see what Faithlife says but I'm really biting my tongue on this one...

That's..that's a bit shocking.  When FL announced this product some months ago, I was very excited.  I grew up using a complete set of EB for many years and thought this would be a dream come true to have the FULL version of it in Logos. However, when I noticed that very little information was actually shown about this pre-pub and the pre-pub price, I began to wonder if this is an edited version to only include articles pertaining to the study of the humanities and biblical / theological / philosophical subject matters.  Still, that sounded pretty cool to have in Logos.  I eventually dropped my pre-pub because I really wanted the complete edition of the EB, and a most current version too.

The pre-pub price indicated to me that it had to be a scaled down version of EB.  Sounds like what was released was even less than an condensed version?

David

alabama24 said:

Robert said:

It would have helped enormously in creating proper expectations, if the Comptons derivation had been part of the narrative from the outset.

What is comptons?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton's_Encyclopedia

Mark Smith said:

Compare the article on Aristotle to the online version. There is no comparison. We have the junior, junior, condensed and dumbed down version.

That has been my view from reading the few articles I have... Noet is aimed at humanity students and I don't see this being much use beyond elementary school. 

-Dan

EDIT: From the release page: “The Noet edition is unlike anything we’ve ever done before and represents a significant step forward for Encyclopaedia Britannica,” said Michael Ross, senior vice president and general manager of education at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. “Noet offers the most advanced way to study the humanities, and Britannica offers some of the best reference articles available. Together, we’re helping students, teachers and researchers all over the world gain greater access to the trustworthy information they need.”

I find it bizarre to think these articles were written by the same people who have done the in depth articles from the encyclopedia.

EDIT2: From separate thread emphasis mine: 

I'm pretty sure now it's this kid's edition:

http://kids.britannica.com/

I created a trial account with a fake address, and compared three full articles. EBNE is identical, just less links and less pictures.

Ben Amundgaard said:

I plan to address some of the other concerns first thing in the morning.

I perhaps should wait but this seemed a prime example:

Foucault, Michel

(1926–84). French structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers. He studied in Paris under Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser and later taught at the University of Clermont-Ferrand from 1960 to 1968 and the Collège de France from 1970 to 1984. His early work concerned the history of mental illness and society’s response to it. Madness and Civilization (1961) is a study of society’s use of the concept of madness in the 17th century. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975) is an examination of the origins of the modern penal system. His books argue that asylums and prisons are society’s devices for exclusion and that by surveying social attitudes toward these institutions, one can examine the development and uses of power.

“Foucault, Michel,” Encyclopedia Britannica Noet Edition (Chicago, IL: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015).

This is an embarrassing short article on a very important 20th century figure from the humanities, it is extremely short compared to the wikipedia preamble pasted below.

Michel Foucault (French: [miʃɛl fuko]; born Paul-Michel Foucault) (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, philologist and literary critic. His theories addressed the relationship between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a post-structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels, preferring to present his thought as a critical history of modernity. His thought has been highly influential both for academic and for activist groups, such as within post-anarchism.^[2]

Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV and then at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness. After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced two more significant publications, The Birth of the Clinic and The Order of Things, which displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, a theoretical movement in social anthropology from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".

From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis, Tunisia, before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. In 1970 he was admitted to the Collège de France, membership of which he retained until his death. He also became active in a number of left-wing groups involved in anti-racist campaigns, anti-human rights abuses movements, and the struggle for penal reform. He went on to publish The Archaeology of Knowledge, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality. In these books he developed archaeological and genealogical methods which emphasized the role which power plays in the evolution of discourse in society. Foucault died in Paris of neurological problems compounded by HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from the disease, and his partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.

-Dan

Jan Krohn said:

The articles in the kids encyclopedia look very familiar...

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9272668/A-a

Here's an example. Very similar.

Mark Barnes said:

We can buy Comptons for pennies. Of course the Logos edition has added value. From the marketing page: "Look up “John Calvin” in EBNE, find a reference to The Institutes, and with a click you’re taken straight to its full text." Really?

By the way, can anyone confirm the other marketing promises?

[quote]Look up a biblical person, place, event, or date range in the Timeline, and Logos pulls together information drawn from EBNE and other resources in your library. In a glance you’ll make new connections between biblical events, people, and places.

I don't have access to the timeline. I've been thinking about a base package that includes the timeline just because of the EBNE, but that's more or less moot now...

[quote]

Still searching...

Mark Barnes said:

I know I can return the product and get my $100 back. I'll probably do that. But it will take longer to get my trust back.

Considering the fact that it will still take 7 years until both my kids are in middle school, I'm probably not gonna do that. But I'm still quite irritated...

I'm wondering whether FL is gonna able to sell a single license at full price now...

Add me to the list poised to get refund, this is not what I expected at all. Given all the requests for information, it's incredible IMHO that "Oops we forgot to tell you it was Compton's" didn't EVER come up. The difference in articles is huge, and what appears to be very untrustworthy.

Waiting for Faithlife response, they deserve at least a chance to respond.

Mark Barnes said:

I simply do not understand why Faithlife has allowed this to happen. The content is clearly written for children, not for adults. The selection of articles clearly does not have Noet users in view.

Mark Barnes said:

I know I can return the product and get my $100 back. I'll probably do that. But it will take longer to get my trust back.

Describes how I feel about this. I was excited about the project, but I am baffled seeing what has been delivered.

$99 for MSRP is still too high. 

This should be in Vyrso for $2.99

Remind me, how many days do we have to return a product?

Mark Barnes said:

If this product had been called Encyclopaedia Britannica for Teens (Logos Edition), or Comptons by Britannica, Logos Edition there would have been very few complaints (apart from the missing links).

I agree. That's how it should have been marketed. And that would have been fine.

mike said:

$99 for MSRP is still too high. 

The price isn't that off for what it is. It's just marketed to the wrong group. This price is comparable to other young people's encyclopedia.

Bruce Roth said:

Bruce Dunning said:

mike said:

This should be in Vyrso for $2.99

I understand what you are trying to say but don't you think that's a bit harsh - especially in bold?

Funny.  I am not sure that the sellers on Amazon are really selling the whole set, but there are listings there for $2.38 for the 2004 version. Add $3.99 for shipping and you have something close to that $2.99 price.

http://www.amazon.com/Comptons-by-Encyclopedia-Britannica/dp/1593392370

thank you [:P]

John Goodman said:

It's an old old version of Britanica right?

No, it's an up-to-date youth version.

Latest but not greatest...

Phil Gons (Faithlife) said:

I wanted to acknowledge that we've seen this thread and are trying to get to the bottom of this. We'll reply as soon as we have clarity.

A wise response.

Phil Gons (Faithlife) said:

I wanted to acknowledge that we've seen this thread and are trying to get to the bottom of this. We'll reply as soon as we have clarity.

Glad to hear this Phil. I would rather that Faithlife "get to the bottom of this," as you put it, than employees posting potentially conflicting responses or having the information provided change multiple times. This is a good first step. Having Bob chime in here at some point would be a good second (or third, if need be) step. I am trying to withhold judgement until I know what Faithlife's official response will be, but I am currently having difficulty seeing the benefit to keeping this resource rather than returning it.

If I had to guess this is the result of internal miscommunications both at Logos and E.B..

If not however, I too am disappointed.

Well users were asking for a long time for sample pages etc.  It seems like Logos clearly had no idea what they were getting and just sold everyone on "marketing" and shiny objects -- and they had no idea what they were selling.

Yes, I am hoping that Faithlife got duped by the Britannica people, and then they accidentally duped us. I VERY HIGHLY doubt Faithlife would intentionally hide the very information that would have prevented many of us from purchasing this.

I was really surprised at this resource and also plan to return it.  I am waiting for Phil and others to 'get to the bottom of this', but this clearly is not only not ready to be in logos (while there may be some links, I have seen none), it also was not what was advertised, and not worth what I spent to have it