CompuServe Thread

Rich, You are right, Rich, as always! Nothing is ever as good or as bad as we want/expect/anticipate. However, MOST things are far more fattening! You may be right on the "shovelware" issue but I feel it's more the response from the user that reads the title of contents and is disappointed that the publisher didn't do more to tie the whole thing together. Some do, and their work is almost always appreciated. Others just put "stuff" on the disc and leave the correlation up to the user. I feel the publisher should do the hyper-links, set up search routines, and in general, make the material a contiguous body. It is not that difficult to do with computers, after all, and having it done, and on a CD-ROM takes advantage of technology and gives the user a bonus, that in the words of D. Webster, "works upon the immortal mind of man, and will brighten to all eternity". Five million poems on a CD-ROM may be overpowering in its sheer volume. Admittadly, it would save a lot of trees and shelfspace. However, five million poems, sliced, diced and linked together like a computer can do, will take the reader (viewer?) on an excursion, the likes of which he will probably never have experienced. Or perhaps even more exciting, five million ideas on a single topic, say freedom, or more efficient carburetors. Ideas feed on ideas. Knowing what works and what doesn't helps the new thinker do better than those that have preceeded. Getting this kind of information could be invaluable. Thanks also for your observation that someone selling critiques and reviews should always tell it like it is. I feel that way and try to do so. It is difficult for a magazine publisher to do so (I suspect) because he doesn't want to offend an advertiser (or a potential advertiser). I feel the pressure also, as many publishers will not send us discs for review if one of our reviewers has "bashed", that is, told it like it is, one of their discs. So far, my response has been to go buy the disc at retail (or wholesale, if I have the time) and review it anyhow. I don't see this as vindicative. I see it as helping the industry grow. I may make a publisher unhappy, may even get threats of law suits! But, in the long run, it may help a potential CD-ROM user become a true advocate of the sport. Rgds Jan