W2B-032 Computing-1.txt
CD-ROMÉ The REVOLUTION is just beginning
by Lynn Boyd

A CD-ROM (compact disk read only memory) looks like a standard audio CD but instead of music holds information suitable for computer use.

The main advantage of such a disk is that is capable of holding a much greater amount of information than the standard floppy disk.

One CD-ROM can hold the equivalent of 500 3.5 inch floppy disks, 200,000 pages of text, or 72 minutes of video play.

Such disks can be reproduced very cheaply. Once you have your information encoded on CD-ROM, you can simply take your mastercopy CD to a company which will replicate it for about £ 1 per copy for large print-runs.

Once written, the information on CD-ROM cannot be changed. This makes it excellent for storing large amounts of archival material such as medical records, examination papers for universities and examining boards, or for storing inspection records for industry.

CD-ROM is the standard format for music but it is also now becoming the standard format for other areas such as the ubiquitous computer game.

This is because the disk can hold so much information, is cheap to produce and has a longer shelf-life than the equivalent information stored on vinyl.

Many libraries, including those at Queen's University, have CD-ROM facilities available, as do a growing number of secondary schools.

It can be used for multi-media publishing, with interactive programmes using sound, graphics and digitised video animations.

The information is constructed in such a way as to allow users to carry out text searches easily, requesting further information.

So how widespread have the uses of this technological innovation become? In 1992 there were some between six and seven million drives in use.

This year the price has fallen dramatically, so that the average cost of a DC-ROM drive to be used in conjunction with a PC is now around £ 200.

CD-I (Compact Disk-Interactive) is already widely used. The system from which it operates looks like a CD player and hooks up to a TV like a VCR.

As well as playing normal audio CDs, interactive multimedia CD-I offers high quality images, hi-fi sound and complete interactivity.

This means children can watch a cartoon, recolour its character and even change the soundtrack and play back their own version.

The CD-I device will soon become a means of receiving multimedia information and other services, such as interactive games, access to electronic databases, and even home shopping.

In the foreseeable future you should be able to rent a video without visiting a video rental shop you 'll simply dial it up.

You will be able to tune into almost any sports event being played anywhere in the world, perhaps even choosing the camera angle and controlling your own instant replays.

You could have instant success to almost any home shopping catalogue (complete with mini commercials and product demonstrations).

You might also wish to access information in libraries around the world or from financial services such as banking, investing or insurance.

CD-ROM is also beginning to play an important role in the world of photography. It is now possible to take slides to a commercial processor, and, for an extra fee, have them put on CD-ROM.

With the addition of a small box to your TV or home PC you could then access them on screen. It is also possible to produce photos from CD, but the technology is not widely available.

A more immediately accessible use of CD-ROM can be identified for creative professional such as graphic designers.

They can now store photographs on disk, which has obvious implications for saving storage space, particularly as this form of archiving is less prone to deterioration than storing film.

With the arrival of CD recorders at about the same price as an average office photo-copier, it is possible to have a machine that produces CD-ROMs containing thousands of pages of information relevant to your own organisation.

As the price of CD-ROM drives continues to fall, the day is not far off when every office will have one. This will enable large volumes of reference and archival material to be accessed by other CD-ROM users.

Among local companies which are currently using CD-ROMs is Textflow Services of Belfast, which is currently archiving QUB examination papers and encoding a publishing firm's journals into CD-ROM.

Dr Paul Mackey of Textflow said: "If all journals were encoded onto disk in this way, institutions such as libraries could then buy the journal on disk at the end of each year, thereby saving an enormous amount of library space."

The full technological capabilities of CD-ROM are just beginning to emerge.

Already CD-ROMs are being used to teach novice computer users the fundamentals of computer hardware and software, with the aid of graphics and animation.
