The internet now exists and easily surpasses the value of this static publication.

varun_ch 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The World Factbook was a really useful resource on the internet.

tombert 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Has it though? Isn't one of the concerns of information on the internet (regardless of political affiliation) that a lot of it is total bullshit?

I've seen so many responses from AI and AI "Summaries" that source claims from 20 year old unsourced forum posts. For that matter, people just make shit up, all the time, often for no apparent reason. It's upsetting that it took me until my 30's to realize that, but regardless I think there is value in canonical, well-funded sources, even with the internet.

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cyberge99 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I think the quality of internet content depends on where you lurk and contribute.

	▲	mmooss 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		in what social venue do you find high-quality content? I don't know of any that come close to matching serious publications, IME.

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thaumasiotes 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The existence of secondary sources doesn't reduce the need for primary sources. Before something can be published everywhere, it has to be published somewhere.

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arrowsmith an hour ago | parent | next [-]

The CIA World Factbook is a tertiary source.

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themafia 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The CIA was a secondary source. This bulk of this material is all drawn from other publications. Which you can now access in ways you could not before.

	▲	anigbrowl 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		We get it, you can't see any utility in having this information aggregated anywhere in a consistent format.

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throwawayq3423 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not if everything is made up on the spot for clicks and views, which is where we're heading.

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MattGaiser 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This is an odd thing to say for something heavily used on the internet. It was not just a physical book.

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themafia 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> It was not just a physical book.

It was. You were able to access a copy on the internet. It was neither edited nor published there. As such it simply couldn't compete with resources that are.

	▲	simonw 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Incorrect. The website was updated weekly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook#Frequency_o...
	▲	psyklic 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		What is this then: https://web.archive.org/web/20260203163430/https://www.cia.g... It clearly states on the page that the Factbook was continuously updated, with "new data uploaded this week".