Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!taco!hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu!kdarling From: kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: CDTV & CD-I The Whole Picture Message-ID: <1991Apr18.161346.3409@ncsu.edu> Date: 18 Apr 91 16:13:46 GMT References: Sender: news@ncsu.edu (USENET News System) Organization: North Carolina State University Lines: 50 > The real predominant differences between CDTV and CD-I will show in the > applications and the price. Disagreement on the price diffs, but yes, absolutely correct on the titles! Unfortunately -- so far I haven't read a single good review of the first CDTV apps, here or on CIS. Reactions have ranged from "disappointing", to "the quality and/or animation were pretty bad", to "if this is the best then I don't see what the big deal is", to "I'll wait for some games". My fears of a premature introduction (technically and title-wise) giving home component I-TV a bad name, have apparently come frustratingly true. Damnation! I feel like back when the first CD-audio/laserdisc titles were bad tape copies. > There is a reason for the difference in price. It has a lot to do with the > OS that the two Machines are running. [...] Development systems, programmers, > and experience are all readily available and cheap for the Amiga. [CD-I] > development systems and programmers are both hard to find and very expensive. Sure, there's a demand for CD-I programmers (realtime C types, mostly - code work is usually done on Suns or other workstations, then cross compiled). Perhaps you should check out what their salaries are? I doubt they'd be embarrassed to leave their contracts behind on a disc ;-). There also seem to be several other commonly spoken notions: 1. CDTV HAS NICE DEV TOOLS- True, and they're helpful for CDTV authors. So? CD-I development work has been under way since _1986_ (ironically, some of the earliest CD-I tools and demos were from Amiga companies such as EA and Aegis). We're also going to see hardware and software spinoffs coming from CD-I soon. So don't be misled. For almost as far back as when the A1000 first came out, CD-I studios have been busily creating CDROM I-TV authoring soft/hardware. 2. LET'S JUST SLAP SOME COMPUTER APPS ON DISC- That isn't I-TV. That's dull! Yes, it might work okay for some already-interactive games (with =lots= of work added on to take advantage of at least some of the extra disc space). But otherwise, the whole point is to NOT make it like a computer with CDROM drive. Don't confuse what you'd want on your Amiga, with what people'd want on _CDTV_. Remember also that virtually all units will only have a joystick control. 3. INEXPENSIVE GEAR IS IMPORTANT- There are MUCH more important cost factors: a/v artists, large amounts of data collection and editing, and lots of time. Are successful commerical movies recorded in lowpaid, one-man garages? Rarely. Most CD-I studios are well-backed, and have enormous materiel and experience resources. The same companies who help bring you the Discovery Channel and Sesame Street and other shows, are among the many dozens creating CD-I titles. Actually, notions #2 and #3 also have a combo side: the NOW EVERYONE AND THEIR GRANDMA CAN MAKE A PROFESSIONAL COMMERCIAL DISC IN TEN MINUTES one (also known previously as the I GOT ME A VIDEOCAM - NOW I'M A BIGNAME MOVIE STUDIO dream). Hopefully it'll be true some day, but that's waaay in the future. best - kevin