CompuServe Messages

The first edition of the oed sold for about the same price, a little less in fact, than the cd rom version, and it included the first supplement volume. I imagine that one might find a copy of it in the commerce for far less than the cd rom. Unfortunately, the publishers of the cd rom felt there market was limited to libraries and priced it accordingly. They overlooked a somewhat larger market of individuals who might have bought it if the price had been $450 or so. They wold have made a lot more money with that pricing since sales would have been several times what they've been. As for finding the 1st cd rom edition after the appearance of the 2nd, I doubt this will occur. Oxford will recall all the old ones, to avoid spoiling sales of the 2nd edition. Given the probably low level of sales of the 1st edition, I very much doubt the distribution pipeline is very full, so this should be quite easy to do. -er