From: Steven_Hurdle@amusers.UUCP (Steven Hurdle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.multimedia
Subject: Re: Why I bought a CD-I yesterday and what Commodore needs to do about
Distribution: world
Date: 20 Dec 92 00:45:20 PST
Organization: AmUsers - The Amiga Users Group of Victoria BC

In a message dated Sat 19 Dec 92  2:55, Jkh@whisker.lotus.ie (jordan K. Hub
wrote:

 JKH> I have seen CDTVs on display in Europe a total of three times.  Once
 JKH> at a games shop in Munich (where I bought mine) and in one Karstadt
 JKH> store (also in Munich), where it was switched off and languishing in
 JKH> a
 JKH> corner.  The third appearance was at an electronics store in
 JKH> Nurnberg
 JKH> where it was playing a 20 second German produced clip of Boris
 JKH> Becker

Interesting.  I've seen CDTV on display in 4 shops locally here in Victoria
BC, and we're a modest three hundred thousand (300000) people in size.

 JKH> Now, you make the very good point that much of this "polish" is a
 JKH> direct
 JKH> result of Phillips throwing large chunks of cash at the problem and
 JKH> I
 JKH> agree that poor sales (the store where I bought my CD-I has sold a
 JKH> grand
 JKH> total of 3, including mine!) are going to really hurt.  Nonetheless,
 JKH> I don't
 JKH> see Phillips giving up for at least another year, since the machine
 JKH> AND
 JKH> its titles have been available in Ireland, at least, for only 4
 JKH> weeks now.
 JKH> If, in this year, they throw enough money at people to produce even
 JKH> 10
 JKH> new good titles, I'll consider the machine more than worth the
 JKH> investment.

About a year ago, the first CD-I unit appeared in a local shop here.  It
was there about a month or so.  It left soon after, and was replaced by a
CDTV unit.  To this day that store stocks CDTV units and titles.  They
didn't sell any CD-I units, not a one, and no stores have any interest in
bringing it in.  CDTV has won here by default.  There isn't even enough
interest here for stores to bring CD-I in.  Meanwhile, CDTV continues to
sell...

 JKH>  I still see the biggest market for these types of machines among
 JKH> the
 JKH>  computer owners, and with CD-I being in the audio section of stores
 JKH> and
 JKH>  having no automatically-loyal group of computer enthusiasts like
 JKH> CDTV has,

 JKH> Well, I won't argue the point that CDTV's loyal amiga following has
 JKH> helped initial sales quite a bit, but I still don't think it's
 JKH> helped
 JKH> that much.  A large number of sales will be to techy types like me
 JKH> who
 JKH> are very impressed with the features the CD-I offers (the use of
 JKH> color
 JKH> has to be seen to be believed - I can't believe I ever thought HAM
    [snip]
 JKH> can't see any reference in the manuals).  Don't forget that initial
 JKH> Amiga sales were to those very same techy types who were willing to
 JKH> take a chance on a new machine.  Admittedly, the CD-I doesn't have
 JKH> the
 JKH> same appeal as you can't program it, but a couple more games like
 JKH> the Golf simulation (and I don't even like golf) and it will turn
 JKH> more
 JKH> than a few heads just on the "wow!" factor alone.

That's not exactly my point.  The Amiga was still a computer at least. 
Sure, it attracted the hobbyists mostly at first but it still had the
entire computer-enthusiast market to draw-upon and it eventually started
selling to "normal" computer buyers which made it whatever sort of a
success it is (depends on who you ask! :).  CD-I is different.  Being a new
type of product, CDTV/CD-I/VIS must forge the market and blaze the trails. 
I'm suggesting that it seems there may not be much of a market for this
sort of thing after all.  By-and-large they've only caught on with computer
enthusiasts, and if this remains true then CDTV's heritage and connection
to the Amiga will serve it well.  CD-I not only faces the task of proving
its merit as a multimedia appliance, but proving a need for such a product
in the first place.  CDTV does not NEED to rely on this, as it can always
fall back on the Amiga enthusiasts if there proves to be little market for
multimedia appliances.

 JKH> Don't get me wrong: I still remain a loyal Amiga/CDTV fan (and wish
 JKH> they'd get their thumb out on the true color extensions they've been
 JKH> promising forever and a day!), but I think it's unfair to bash
 JKH> Phillips
 JKH> just because they're the competition.  If you simply look at what
 JKH> they've done, you'll probably agree that they deserve a lot of the
 JKH> same
 JKH> kudos that Commodore originally got for the Amiga.  There's a lot
 JKH> about
 JKH> the technology that's quite impressive, for the price.

You're correct that it has 24-bit colour.  I'm critical of the unit for
other reasons than its colour, which is rather good actually.  Primarily,
the lack of any computer sound-generation is ludicrous.  EVERY SINGLE
SOUND, from every shot or explosion in a shoot-em-up to a simple "click"
sound when picking an on-screen option, must come off of the CD as
digital-audio.  This turns even the simplest sound-tasks into a horrendous
mess.  You either have to waste a lot of your access time continually
grabbing sounds on demand or you must fill-up a lot of available RAM with
dozens of digital-audio snippets for every conceivable sound.  Ridiculous.

  The controller I won't comment on, as some love it and some hate it. 
Maybe they'll provide a different controller option anyway to silence the
critics of that.  They'd be wise to do so, though I haven't heard of any
plans.

   BTW, did you notice that Magnavox (the company who was to be the first
distributor of a CD-I machine) has abandoned CD-I and is now involved with
VIS (which forced Phillips to market the first machine themselves).

Also, now that CD-I is being marketed in some places as a game machine, and
other places simply as a Photo-CD delivery device, don't you feel it's
reasonable to think that the rate at which new "serious" titles, such as
you listed as being your favourites, might be slow in coming from now on?

 JKH> Jordan Hubbard  Lotus Development Ireland jkh@whisker.lotus.ie
 JKH> I DO NOT SPEAK FOR LOTUS - IT HAS PLENTY OF LAWYERS TO DO THAT FOR
 JKH> IT ALREADY

-- Via DLG Pro v0.995

Steven Hurdle <==> The Swindler                [public replies only please]

Writer of "Virtual Rumours", a rumour/news column in some club newsletters.

          Coming to you from Victoria B.C., the Bahamas of Canada

                     "Give me AGA, or give me DEATH!!!"
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.multimedia