The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.0854 Monday, 16 April 2001
From: Gabriel Egan <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Saturday, 14 Apr 2001 13:27:36 +0100
Subject: Arden Online
SHAKSPERians may remember that last year Thomson Learning (the owners of
Arden Shakespeare) suspended sales of Arden Online, the web-based
service providing electronic texts of the Arden-2 and, where completed,
Arden-3 Shakespeare editions, and related materials. Thomson Learning
undertook market research which they hoped would show them how to
redesign the service to make money.
Thomson Learning have completed their market research and the outcome is
that they can't make money from Arden Online and so sales will not
resume.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of a web-based publishing
endeavour connected to English Literature which has made money.
(Chadwyck-Healey's LION hasn't and Bell and Howell's EEBO is probably
too new to tell.) If "the greatest revolution in information
dissemination since movable type" (as the web is often called) cannot
operate within capitalism, the outlook is indeed rosy. (So long as one
thinks the latter has to go.)
Gabriel Egan
