If what you want to do is get 300 pages of material into your students' hands, ROMs start becoming attractive in terms of cost to students. As soon as you break into media such as movies, animations, and sounds, then ROMs become very attractive. Students may want and sometimes need print copies. When the instructor provides a CD-ROM, the task and costs of creating the print copy are transferred to the student. If text materials are provided in the .pdf format, excellent quality printing becomes possible for students.
Students appear to like printed material almost regardless of the cost.
In 1980, when students were provided with microfiche copies of old exams they used the microfiche, but also made many print copies. At the time, copying from a microfiche was twice as expensive as ordinary paper copying. Most students were happy to have so much old exam material, but felt the need to have some in print. As more and more colleges require that students obtain personal computing devices, expect to see an increased use of CD-ROMs. Objects such as books and magazines are in tune with our publishing past.