From: shogun@tension.UUCP (Jay Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics
Subject: Re: Tandy Unveils 16-Million-Color CD-ROM Multimedia system
Date: 26 Dec 92 09:32:49 EST
Organization: High Tension BBS

In article <BzuMFo.JnI@news.iastate.edu>, barrett@iastate.edu (Marc N. Barrett)
writes:
>In article <72408@cup.portal.com> Tom_-_Obszanski@cup.portal.com writes:
>>>Commodore hasn't released a computer with a CD-ROM drive because they're
>>>computers don't NEED a CD-ROM drive, but that doesn't mean that they
>>>don't OFFER one.
>>>
>>>jf
>>>--
>>>John Franklin
>>>franklin@csugrad.cs.vt.edu
>>>franklin@elfie.async.vt.edu
>>>
>>
>>I strongly disagree with the statement that the Amiga doesn't need a CD-ROM
>>drive.  More collections of images and text are becoming available on CD-ROM
>>(as mentioned in some text I deleted) and we need access to them, just as
>>any MAC or MS-DOS/Windows machine has - there's an awfully large amount of
>>good raw data out there for us to use.  Secondly, PhotoCD from Kodak appears
>>to require a CD-ROM drive if you want to get the images into a computer,
>>including the Amiga (without having to hook a PhotoCD player up to a
>>frame-grabber, a dumb solution IMHO).
>
>   I agree that that would be a very dumb solution.  But it sounds like 
>something Commodore would try to do to provide "Photo CD" support for the
>Amiga.  A few weeks ago Commodore tried solving the problem of no Amiga
>CD-ROM drives from Commodore by pushing this hack that involved connecting
>a CDTV to an A3000 with a parallel cable.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.
>
>>Fortunately, we don't have to wait for Commodore to come out with a CD-ROM
>>drive for the Amiga.  There's a large number of drives that can be connected
>>directly to your SCSI bus, and all you need to get them to work are the
>>device drivers in the form of CD-ROM-FS, or other available package.  So
>>basically, quit whining, buy a NEC, Sony, Toshiba, Chinon, or whatever kind
>>of drive you want, as long as it's supported by your CD-ROM drivers.  That's
>>what I'll be doing in a little while.  BTW, the newest Pioneer CD-ROM
>>changer (with it's quadruple speed mode) works great on an Amiga 3000, I've
>>seen it done.
>
>   Unfortunately, there is very little you can actually do with an Amiga and
>a CD-ROM drive right now.  Sure, you can buy the NASA discs and view lots of
>pictures, but this amounts to little more than a slideshow.  There is very
>little interaction with something like this.  And discs with static pictures
>or static data are the only ones that are usable on an Amiga.  None of the
>interactive CD-ROM products written for CD-I, Mac, or IBM  are usable on an
>Amiga.  These discs have the data in a custom format, which would require
>ports to the Amiga of large amounts of software or even parts of operating
>systems to use this data.  And discs like these make up the bulk of CD-ROM
>discs that are available.
>
>---
>| Marc Barrett -MB-  |  email: barrett@iastate.edu
>--------------------------------------------------
Marc, there are CDROMs out there in Amiga format.  Just lookin your AC's Guide.
 It has 5 pages devoted to CDTV format CDROMs.  Get yer head outa the sand! 
There are even ports from the DOS/Mac world (e.g. Sherlock Holms).  
                Jay Brown

==============================================================================
IBM MAKES IT IN BULK...MACINTOSH MAKES IT POPULAR, BUT ONLY AMIGA MAKES IT     
                           POSSIBLE.
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.graphics