Barely ten years have passed since the audio compact disc was introduced, which at the time was hailed as the most fundamental change in musical listening since the gramophone record. In less than half a generation, audio CDs have virtually made the older medium redundant, and the compression-moulded plastic compact disc is now as ubiquitous as other twentieth century accessories such as telephones, VCRs or microwave ovens.

CD development has not ended by allowing the audiophile to listen to his choice of sound, from Beethoven through to Guns `n' Roses, with a clarity never before experienced outside of the concert hall or recording studio. It was a natural progression, and an almost perfect marriage, when CD met PC (personal computer), which led to the development of the CD-ROM in 1984.

CD-ROMs are a compact disc split into two sectors: one for computer data, the other for compressed audio or video raphic data. ROM stands for "read-only-memory'', which means that unlike audio or video cassettes, these discs do not have the ability to record information.

But their ability to store immense amounts of data on the standard 4.72 inch disc, have made them a winner for PC users. The transition from audio to video and graphics brought about the opening of a veritable Pandora's Box, and the associated digital development has accelerated to warp speed. Today's revolution rapidly becomes outdated, and standards are still being established.

Most CD-ROMs available can be played on a standard CD-ROM player that is connected to a regular PC - IBM or Mac. Audio CDs can, in fact, be played on a computer's CD-ROM drive, but don't try it the other way around - the electronic design of a regular audio CD player is primitive in comparison to that used in a CD-ROM drive. With the addition of a sound card to your computer, you can sit back and be treated to an audio-visual show that is almost futuristic. Perhaps not - the future is already with us, and for about the same price as a TV CR package, it is possible to enter the cyber-space-age. Multimedia is here, and life will never again be the same.

So what is multimedia and what can ordinary folk who find programming a VCR impossible, actually gain from this new technology? That's rather like asking the same question about visiting your local library, or having access to seemingly impossible amounts of data. Multimedia, using CD-ROMs and computers means the presentation of information on a screen, using graphics, sound, animation, and text. CD-ROMs are capable of storing 650 megabytes of digital information.

This means in simple terms, that a full encyclopedia can be stored, then retrieved, from one single disc. Add the audio capabilities previously not possible with the regular encyclopedia, coupled with a cross-referencing that dazzles, and a powerful tool is available from a standard computer. As one analyst put it: "it is almost possible to store the entire contents of a small town library on the same number of CDs that would represent every recording released by the Rolling Stones!'' A CD-ROM encyclopedia allows the user to see video clips of Beethoven"composing'' his Moonlight Sonata, and animations can display events such as an atomic explosion.

Apart from use at home, CD-ROM for education opens new doors for teachers, making the blackboard appear about as relevant as the clay tablet. Government schools have been experimenting sucessfully with a pilot CD-ROM project over the past two years. Over the last few years, the type of information and entertainment for CD-ROM users has mushroomed, and there are now CD-ROMs for subjects as diverse as Ham Radio and a listing of prescription drugs. Want to learn Japanese cooking, or indeed the Japanese language? There is a CD out there for you. If there is a book on the subject, chances are a CD is available, or is in the pipeline.

For example, the American Business Phone Book has a staggering ten million US business and phone numbers on one disc, with an additional one million Canadian listings for good measure. This one disk has the business listings from 5,000 Yellow Pages.

As one who loves instant access to data, these statistics were just too much, and I was instantly smitten. Why not simply dial "O'' for inquiries? This CD doesn't just give numbers, it lists addresses as well, and will even find a business if you don't know its location. You can search by company name, city, state or zip code.

A listing of North American businesses, however, pales in comparison to the complexities of a complete Spanish learning programme etched to half a dozen discs. Hyperglot Software have teamed up with Berlitz languages to produce a series of CD-ROM learning courses in the world's major languages. Having a course on CD-ROM is like being in the actual classroom, but the student has the advantage of being able to take a break whenever he, or she feels like it.

The convenience of cassettes, videos, and self-instruction manuals are combined, and by plugging a microphone into your PC soundboard, recording you own voice for comparison against the native speaker is made possible.

At the core of the course, are a series of scenes which depict aspects of everyday living. Around these scenes, the student can either listen to a narrative about that particular scene, read text on the screen, write notes relevant to the scene, or finally, practice talking with the microphone.

Exercises are available along the way to check progress, and the whole environment is menu driven by clicking onto ocons with the PC's mouse. Users of Windows (a PC operating environment using a graphical interface) will delight in the simplicity of operation. Whether or not I am fluent in Spanish for a planned South American trip later in the year, remains to be seen, but it is certainly more fun than the conventional language tutors! CD-ROM has developed so rapidly, that more features are becoming available on almost a weekly basis. If you are contemplating buying a drive for your computer, you might consider a unit that incorporates XA or extended architecture. This will allow you to utilise the Photo-CD system pioneered by Kodak, whereby it is possible to store hundreds of digital images from standard 35mm prints to one disc. Kodak do have their own CD players to playback photos on TV, and Phillips have CD-1 (interactive) which can also play Kodak photos, but speed and resolution does not match that of a high-resolution computer monitor. However, if you are not interested in using a computer, and convenience is the issue, CD-1 players could be the way ogo.

Writable discs appear to be the future of CDs, and the CD-MO (Magnetic optical) disc is presently under development. MODs have two distinct advantages over conventional CDs: they are faster, and they can be recorded to. Physically they are similar to the more recognisable 3.5 inch floppy diskette, but inside there is a world of difference. Laser technology is used to read or write to the disc, and the drive can be slotted in to a PC in the same way that a regular diskette drive is. Presently, the top storage capacity is 128mb, but by 1995 this is expected to be 600mb -larger than most computer hard drives.

Most readers won't be in the market for MOD just yet, but it is worth being informed of computers. Sooner than most people think, it will be possible to watch a blockbuster movie such as Jurassic Park in the comfort of your home simply by punching into a menu on your multimedia station that will incorporate phones, TVs and databanks linked by fibre-optic cabling. TV Guide will be so long, that a CD-ROM will be required to store all the listings! A brief word of advice on purchasing a CD-ROM drive: Some cheap models are now available (around $200), but less price normally means slower speed (access time). Access time is measured in milliseconds or ms, and a drive that is slower than 300-350 ms will eventually frustrate even the most patient user.

Check for compatibility between drive, PC, and soundboard.

Finally, if you don't own a computer, one easy solution might be one of the numerous multimedia computers on the market, which have the CD-ROM installed, and ready to use, without having to worry about setting it up.

AUGUST 1993 RG MAGAZINE