Horace Mann of suburban Newberg has completed his purchase of all 26 volumes of Wikipedia including unlimited addenda and a promised Wikipedia Annual to be sent to him each year for the next five years on the anniversary of the purchase date.
Mr. Mann is the first customer of record for the new print edition of Wikipedia being sold door to door by traveling salesmen working on commission, and he couldn't be happier.
"Imagine holding that much knowledge in your hands and being able to look at it whenever you want! It boggles your mind!" was Mr. Mann's enthusiastic response when contacted for this story.
"I'll get the twenty six volumes-A to Z, unlimited addenda with additions and corrections, and five Wikipedia Annuals! All for only $5,000 plus postage."
Wikipedia had hinted at offering a hard copy of it's online offering for months and a crude mock-up was on display at last year's New York Times Book Fair and Jousting Tournament. Until this week's announcement it had remained idle speculation.
Analysts have adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward this latest offering by Wikipedia with one analyst adding: "We'll just have to wait and see. That's all. Wait and see."
WikiLeaks isn't waiting. Julian Assange, the main spokesperson and editor-in-chief for WikiLeak has announced that his company was proceeding as planned with an online version of Wikipedia's hard copy version of Wikipedia despite the threat of lawsuits and injunctions from Wikipedia itself.
Editors note: An online version of this article is available at Wikipedia.
