Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993 TAG: 9312100054
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The technology was invented in the early 1980s and was first introduced in 1985. But it use was pretty much limited to business, government and institutions until the early 1990s. Now it is a $3 billion business, with 15 million discs expected to be sold this year.
Even those who never intend to buy a personal computer can enter the brave new world of CD-ROM by buying a gizmo that plugs into the TV.
Q. What is CD-ROM?
A. CD-ROM (ROM rhymes with bomb), stands for Compact Disc-Read Only Memory. The disc looks exactly like the audio CD and can hold words, pictures and moving images that can be read by a computer and displayed on a screen. A 4-inch disc can hold the equivalent of 260,000 pages of printed text. The disc's ability to also store sounds and images means it can offer information in a multimedia, interactive format.
Q. What's interactive about it?
A. You can call up any subject you want quickly and can explore it at various degrees of depth. For example, a student could transfer a copy of CD-ROM encyclopedia's maps and charts of France into the computer, and with some simple electronic "cutting and pasting," print out a nifty looking page to include in a report on the country.
Q. How good are the sound and moving images of CD-ROM systems?
A. The sound is excellent - you can play music CDs on them - but the moving images are herky-jerkyi
Q. What equipment do you need to use CD-ROM?
A. You need a late-model personal computer with a CD-ROM reader, also known as a CD-ROM drive. That means an Apple computer no more than 4 years old or an IBM-compatible computer with at least the power of a 386 microprocessor, and preferably a 486. If you're not interested in owning a personal computer, forget the CD-ROM reader and buy a CD-ROM player that plugs into your television. With a player, you use a remote-control mouse to control what happens on the screen. With a reader, you use a mouse or a keyboard or both.
Q. How much does CD-ROM hardware cost?
A. If you're buying a personal computer, a built-in CD-ROM reader will add about $300 to its cost. If you want to add a CD-ROM reader to the personal computer you already have, it will likely cost you between $300 and $700. That includes the reader that reads the information on the CD, and a sound card and speakers that deliver the sound on the disc. (There's already a video card in personal computers that controls the monitor.) CD-ROM players, which plug into televisions instead of computers, range from about $350 to $700.
Q. How much does CD-ROM software cost?
A. Most consumer-oriented CD-ROMs sell for $30 to $80, though the popular CD-ROM encyclopedias retail for as much as $500. (Some of these encyclopedias - and other reference works and games - are often sold at deep discounts or even given away as inducements to buy CD-ROM hardware.)
Q. What are CD-ROMs in the home used for?
A. Education and games. Companies currently selling CD-ROM players and games include Commodore, NEC, VIS, CD-I, 3DO and Sega, with Nintendo poised to enter the market early next year.
Q. Can any CD-ROM disc run on any CD-ROM system?
A. No. Although CD-ROMs all look alike, they run only on the specific machines for which they are designed. The lack of compatibility is perhaps the biggest complaint lodged at the still-developing CD-ROM industry.
by CNB