Dictionary 2.0 + 1.0 - 0.7

Just the other day, I was thinking about how I really haven't opened a dictionary in quite a few years. As I do most of my writing on a word processor, the veritable Webster's just sits on the shelf as the spell checker catches the typos, (a term that really applied to a typewriter, and probably doesn't even apply here in the strictest sense).


There are times that I need a definition of a word. A few years back, I would turn to the Microsoft Bookshelf CD that came with my first computer, and outlived it by a healthy margin. On it, there were several reference books, and the most utilized one was by far the dictionary. Who needed to page through the heavy tome when the CD worked so much more efficiently? Not me, for sure. This is the Dictionary 2.0 in the article's title.


After a while, loading up the CD even became too much effort. When I need a definition these days, it's even easier to turn to the site Dictionary.com. After all, it's constantly updated, and even a student friendly price of free for the basic edition which is all I've ever used. It also has a thesaurus as well that works quite well. As long as I'm connected to the internet, then Dictionary.com (I wonder how much they paid for that domain, but it was worth it), is clearly the way to go. This is the Dictionary 3.0 in the article's title.

In case you don't like Dictionary.com, there are plenty of other free online dictionaries as well that are within the budget of every starving student. For a fast and streamlined approach, give Ninjawords a try. At the other end of the spectrum, Merriam-Webster has a full featured site that includes a separate medical dictionary, and a Spanish/English one as well.

I recently noted this product over at OhGizmo!:

My first split second impression was, that was an intriguing application for a flash drive. Then, I got completely unenthused to see that this product is going for $43 to $63 dollars (2 or 4 GB version). Why would I pay that kind of money when I can just use Dictionary.com for free? Are there that many times that the user is offline, like on a train, is using their word processor, and has no online access, and needs a dictionary? This would have been a great application about five years ago, but is simply not needed today. This is the kind of product that some unsavvy parent would buy for their child which would promptly get lost in the bottom of their sock drawer never to be actually used.

Seriously, where do they come up with this stuff? This is the Dictionary 2.3 in the article's title. Save your money for something else as this is a step backwards as far as I can tell.

--Jonas