CompuServe Messages

This is a very disconcerting situation that may come back to bite us all! In the recent press, in major PC magazines, at least two Senior Editors have written columns bemoaning the failure of CD-ROM to deliver on its promise. In one article, Microsoft's Cinemania was singled out and error after error was cited. In the review of "Alice in Wonderland", for example, "Alice" was referd to in some instances using the actresses' name (Judy Garland). Other glaring mistakes were also quoted, and the question was posed, what good is all this stuff if the publishers just pass on the inaccuracies of previous works? In another article, a major reference work was exposed as being literally worthless because it did not provide the information really needed, but rather gave a commercial for yet other works which might provide the answer. The original reference material dated from 1852. The editor pointed out that it had been "shoveled" into a new format that could only disgust the purchaser. My question is will this industry kill itself with stupid stunts like this? Who is responsible? Microsoft certainly has a fine reputation in virtually every area that it has chosen to participate in. If a similar mistake, as apparently occurs many times in the CD-ROM Cinemania appeared in Microsoft Word, it would be corrected immediately. I, personally, do not want to see CD-ROM technology die for any reason. To me, it is an "enabling technology" that holds great promise and that should be nurtured, improved, and used to help us advance (conquer the information glut through organization, or compound it with BS and propagated inaccuracies?) Any discerning person can quickly see that the vast majority of CD-ROM titles on the market are not very good. When vendors distribute the same junk they have trouble selling on 3.5" disc at prices two to three times what they charge for the 3.5", it is easy to come to the conclusion that there in a large number of greedy people that will misuse anything that gets them more money faster. That's business, I guess. The really frightening thing is that CD-ROM is a quantum advance over the old ways of distribution. Its very advantages are also its greatest dangers! Using discettes or even tape, putting out a very large amount of info or data took a large number of discs or tape. On CD-ROM, the ratio is far greater than 600:1 in capacity, and almost equal in cost on a ratio of 1:1. Perhaps we should organize a vigilante to police errors, bring them to publishers' attention, and if the publishers' don't correct them, make the information public. This will probably have to be fully volunteer. If some publishers paid even $1.00 for each error, there is probably not enough money in the world to cover their screw-ups! Any volunteers?