In 1768, three Scottish printers began publishing an integrated compendium of knowledge – the earliest and most famous encyclopaedia in the English-speaking world. They called it Encyclopaedia Britannica. The decline and fall of the Encylopaedia Britannica is more than a parable about the dangers of complacency. It illustrates what we will call the new economics of information: how the evolving technological capabilities for sharing and using information can transform business definitions, industry definitions, and competitive advantage. It illustrates how the most stable of industries, the most focused of business models, and the strongest of brands can be blown to bits by new information technology.