CompuServe Messages

<I think you've got either a crystal ball or, more likely, an advance page, because the February 9 issue just hit my mailbox two days ago. <g> > Thanks, Bill. If you remember, I'd appreciate knowing the date that you receive your Feb 23 issue (it was mailed last week and should hit U.S. households by this weekend). I have an advance copy. The ad is on page 41, First Looks, and the major reviews will be hitting in March. I would greatly appreciate an honest critique and an honest posting on this Forum of your opinion on any of our products. The disc being released this week is $79 because it is really four major products in one–the four books are all current $20-$25 best-sellers and thus the royalties are high. In the future, most ZCI titles will be single-issue and about $29.95 retail (or less). Unfortunately, there is so much JUNK out there already in the CD-ROM market that it is becoming difficult to rise above the noise. Hopefully, the PC magazines will step in and start doing honest reviews of all products (instead of just re-printing press releases). It's amazing to me that people expect CD-ROMs that are just text of popular books to sell. A book is a great way to read text–it works in dim light, there are no batteries to replace, and no consumer learning curve. Why anyone would want a text version of a book on disc is beyond me. We believe that every application should have a continuous one hour or more audio-visual presentation that stimulates your desire to use the disc. The AV presentation is by far the most important component of the disc–just as the lecture from the Professor is more important than the books assigned for the course (I teach college every Monday). CD-ROMs will soon become like books and movies. Five percent of the consumer titles will soon account for 95 percent of retail sales. At ZCI, we're determined to produce only "five percent" titles but I'm sure will [>> Continued in next msg]