CompuServe Messages

(cont from previous message) would have a very tough act to follow. Newspapers would flourish! Re: your choice of words on the OED, you left it open–I just couldn't resist! Heaven knows that probably 97.35% of the American public would benefit from the OED! Have you tried to speak to a young person? (Do they speak English?). Which costs more? Laying out all the paste-ups and art work to make the sub-microscopic version to retail at $150?, or transferring the text files already in computer to a CD-ROM format? Rich, you can't win this on trying to justify costs in doing things the old way. There are several software packages that will cross reference, and convert to Hypertext complete manuscripts and get them ready for CD-ROM with almost NO HUMAN INVOLVEMENT. (If you're interested, Lotus's SMARTEXT, among others). Moving OED to CD-ROM probably reduced their production costs from $100+ per set to $1.00+. What sort of justification does that leave for their absurd price on the CD-ROM? (ABSURD: ab-surd. "So clearly untrue or unreasonable as to be laughable or ridiculous". Webster's new World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition). They have reduced their production costs by TWO factors of magnitude and they set their retail price only 6629.6296% times production costs! WOW! I'm REALLY glad their expertise is claimed to be in the language. If they were economists they would probably be in the new cabinet! Rich, we've got to quit meeting this way. Let's give the others in the forum a chance to jump in. It should be obvious to everyone that we are at the end of one era and the beginning of another. Sure there are going to be lots of mistakes. Sure things are going to change dramatically, and the path to the future is very difficult to discerne. It is exciting to be living at this cross-road! It is doubly exciting to know that I am right and everyone else is wrong! (Can't resist one last dig). (cont in next)