Oxford May Nix Printed Dictionary

Has the Internet finally conquered the 130-pound behemoth that it is the Oxford English Dictionary? While the venerable tome has been referenced for 126 years, its publishers are considering ceasing the printed version soon due to anemic sales figures and a successful online counterpart. Oxford’s online subscription service, which charges users $295 per year for access to 291,500 entries, pulls in 2 million hits a month, but the weighty paper version has sold only 30,000 copies since 1987. Now, it’s uncertain whether it will be printed at all. “At present we are experiencing increasing demand for the online product,” reads a statement from Oxford. “However, a print version will certainly be considered if there is sufficient demand at the time of publication.” The next (third) edition of the dictionary is about a quarter finished