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From: vsolanoy@ozonebbs.UUCP (Victor Solanoy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: What the heck IS "Interactive TV"? (long)
Message-ID: <511c11w164w@ozonebbs.UUCP>
Date: 13 Apr 91 20:49:27 GMT
References: <1991Apr11.143222.13728@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: The ()zone BBS, +1 408 223 1738
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rjc@geech.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Ray Cromwell) writes:

> 
>   I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here and say that I don't think
> interactive TV will be the next revolutionary home device. People are
> used to being passive watchers/listeners. People usually don't interact
> with TV/CD Players. It may be a 'neat' thing, but I think I-TV players
> will collect dust in the majority of American homes. Kids may use it
> to play games, or education. The family may use it for a library, but
> most people will still prefer to watch normal TV. I think I-TV players
> will mostly be used for games and information retrieval. This is where
> CDTV steals the market. The Amiga has by far the best games on the market.
> This library can be ported easily. Game programmers in the past have
> written games for 512k 1 drive A500's. They usually crammed all the
> graphics they could onto 2 880 disks. Now imagine CDTV games made to run
> in 1meg using 600mbs of disk space!
> 
>   Sure CD-I has better specs, and is backed up by major Japanese companies.
> So what? The C64 stood up to the same kind of opposition, and won!
> Another major benefit is CDTV is OUT! It will have atleast a 6 month lead
> on CD-I (to be released in September, but I bet it will be delayed a few
> months). If Commodore advertises it well (Television, Radio, and large
> print media) it will get an installed base that will give it an 
> advantage, like Nitendo had over Sega, TurboGraphics, Neo Geo, etc.
> Remember, the consumer doesn't base purchases on the spec sheet.
> I don't know whether CDTV will succeed or not, all I Know is I want
> one.
> 

I'll have to dispute that....  the real market in this interactive TV thing 
is in education.  Recently in San Jose (where I live) there was a conference 
on multi-media technology and this CD ROM thing was the hot issue...  it is 
basically the wave of the future (for now that is).  Even more recently was 
an educational conference of sorts on the use of interactive systems 
(computer/laser disc based) in education.  The basic idea behind that is 
kids have FUN at it... just as kids today adapt to computers faster than 
adults...  it is viewed as a appliance rather than a tool to children.  CDTV 
is just such an appliance... it's educational (it could be if marketed 
correctly).
 
At the price CDTV is set at, it's not going to have all too much competition 
since there very few (if any at all) competitors that have a CD-ROM and 
computer built into one machine.  Of coarse there are the add ons, but it 
may still be cheaper than an educational purchase of a color Mac with a CD 
ROM or an IBM PC/XT/AT type machine equipped with all the necessary hardware 
to handle graphics and sound.
 
Victor