When I was first getting involved with computers (at least the ?modern? ones of the mid 1990s), one of the ways I taught myself was by either buying books, or watching technology shows on TV. One of the most popular computer and technology television series in the 80s and 90s was a PBS offering called ?Computer Chronicles?, which aired from 1983 to 2002. Each week, host Stewart Cheifet would introduce the public to a wide array of modern computing products, video games and great new technology. Everyone from Apple, IBM, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, you name it. They were all featured at one point or another. But this one particular clip had peaked my interest.
In 1988, Computer Chronicles did an episode all about the somewhat new medium of CD-ROM. Throughout the half hour, discussions about CD-ROM uses in education, data storage, and entertainment took place. At one point during the broadcast, a new type of CD-ROM format was brought up to the public for the very first time, and that format was Compact Disc Interactive (or CD-i). As many people know, the CD-i format was originally slated to be used as an add-on device for the Super Nintendo. However, the concept of incorporating video, audio, photos and information in an easy to use format, was being developed long before that.
This video clip gives you a small introduction of CD-i, and one of it?s very earliest examples, provided by the great people of Electronic Arts, who was said to become one of the leaders in software for the system. Another thing to take notice of, is the incredible differences in expectations when compared to what would become reality. It was estimated that the CD-i formats in all set top box uses would sell ?tens of millions? of units. In reality, when the CD-i systems were actually released, less than one million were sold. Talk about a kick in the head!
The CD-i for some reason, was always one of my favorite under appreciated consoles. Part of it probably has to do with the original infomercial that Philips ran in the early 1990s to try to sell the thing. But to see such an early example of what was to come, was sort of unique to see. I often wonder what would have happened if the CD attachment was actually produced for the Super Nintendo. Would it have been more successful than CD-i? Would the Nintendo licensed CD-i games have come out for the SNES? Or, would they just have never been made? (Which most would say, wouldn?t have been a bad thing.) Just makes you ponder the video game world, even if just for a split second.
(And for those interested in seeing the entire episode, most episodes of Computer Chronicles have been made available to streaming online or download, in their entirety. The link for this episode is http://archive.org/details/cdroms.)
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