CompuServe Messages

Kevin, I've been absorbing your messages on CDTV for some days now; I'm glad you're here to help put this new thingie into perspective for us. And with technical background to boot. I must say, though, that unless CDTV outpaces CD-I by YEARS, I fear for its life. Even those outside of our "techno-head" ranks have learned (often the hard way) how newly advanced electronics gets cheaper almost immediately, sometimes dropping a 1/3 to a 1/2 in a year, and occasionally, becoming incompatible. VCR's, early home-computers, game-machines, portable telephones, etc, have all burned quite a few early-birds. Those who weren't burned directly usually know someone who has, like someone who has a RCA videodisk player in the closet. Most people now think themselves shrewd waiting at least a few months before grabbing at anything new, sometimes intentionally doing a little research by the way of reading reviews etc. Although this is an exciting announcement, and I hope CBM pulls it off, CDTV has two counts against it, IMHO. First, it's first (assuming it really does appear before consumer CD-I units). Many consider this a key advantage; I'm not so sure. The announcement and even the delivery mean nothing unless impressive applications exist concurrently. Doo-dad fanatics will snarf some up, but the masses will wait, either for some killer application that's so attractive it doesn't matter what the format is, or to see if CDTV is "going to live". Second, by your descriptions, it's inferior in some important ways. All the CD-I proponents have to do is play these up, demonstrating some CD-I features that CDTV can't do, and that could be the end of it, considering CD-I's massive backing. As I say, I hope I'm wrong. CBM could use a coup like this, and their newfound marketing abilities make it a possibility. But I think they're at a disadvantage if the graphics are inferior. The general public isn't as ignorant as it was five years ago. Karl