The New Media: CD-ROM

The CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory) packs a wealth of visible/audible content when inserted in the disc drive. A CD-ROM is typically the physical medium for Multimedia, although DVDs are also gaining in popularity as more computers feature built-in DVD players.

Advantages

  • Compresses huge amounts of data into a small, easy-to-store-and-handle disc.

  • Inserts and plays in the computer with the relative ease.

  • Computers sold today come with a CD-ROM device as standard equipment.

  • Gives the storyteller, the educator and the trainer an incredible tool that overcomes many of the barriers inherent with other means of sending a message.

Disadvantages

  • If you thought desktop publishing software was a chore to master, the multimedia authoring software you'll need to create your own CD-ROM is tougher still. Just as DTP software does not make the user a graphic artist, multimedia application software, in the hands of someone who doesn't have an aptitude for it, can create an unintelligible jumble. It really requires inspiration from left and right sides of the brain! Plus a dash of showbiz.

  • If you bought your computer recently, you're probably OK from a hardware limitation standpoint. But if your computer is older, you may not be OK. CD-ROMs are memory hogs!

  • As with most software, there are different platforms for which the programs must be written: Windows and Macintoshes, to name two. Which platform does your audience use? Is your material suitable for a 'hyrid' disk?

CD-ROM at Work

Universal Instruments sought to publish a voluminous report on lab-oratory research concerning automatic assembly of ultra-fine pitch components to printed circuit boards. They knew their huge file of data, photos, charts, etc., would be best compiled in CD-ROM format. Fred Riger Advertising lent graphic design assistance in the labeling and packaging of the disc.

In another application, the Riger Agency assisted Hardinge Inc., the precision machine tool maker, to include its advertising message in a CD-ROM version of the Thomas Register for 1996, a reference work that, in traditional hard copy form, occupies several book shelves.

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