ftp.cdrom.com/pub/cdrom//cdrom.tar/cdrom/cdpub/cdp9301.dig

Text File | 1993-03-15 | 36KB | 882 lines

CDPub Digest                Sun, 14 Mar 93       Volume   93: Issue   1

Today's Topics:
                          AUTHORING SOFTWARE
                      Classified data on CD-ROMs
                           ETEXT DIRECTORY
                    Multimedia authoring (2 msgs)
                        Multiple platforms (Q)
                            Optical Laser
              Pinnacle breaks the price barrier (3 msgs)
                      what about Kodak? (6 msgs)
                             Young Minds

                   M o n t h l y        A r c h i v e

                   o f

           CDPub, the CD-R & CD-Rom Publishing Discussion List

       Send Mail-Server commands to: [e-mail]

                Send submissions to: [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 17:16:08 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: AUTHORING SOFTWARE
emory!BUTLER.EDU!SIMON writes:

>         I am presently working on a research project in which measures the
> feasibility of CD-Rom production and size of the CD-Rom consumer market.
> I am currently pricing different Hardware/Software setups that will be
> powerful enough to produce Multimedia CDroms.  In my research I have come
> across the Philips CDD521 CD recorder.  Has anyone used this recorder for
> in-house productions.  What type of software is best compatable with the CDD5
> and also meets my multimedia needs?  What type of hardware/software system
> are you running?  Costs?  Is there somewhere where I can find out more info
> about the CDD521 or comparable in-house recorders? (I have read the FAQ).
> Please send reply directly to "[e-mail]"
> Thank you for your time.
>

Okay,

Here is my set-up.

Hardware:

I am using the CDD-521 along with a MSDOS PC. The setup works well for me
hardware wise. Here is how it is.

The PC is 486-33 with 16mB RAM. (4 MB is adequate for most cd-rom recording
purposes. But I also run OS/2 on this system, therefore the 16 MB memory).
At least a 386-25+Mhz CPU is needed to record CD's without problems.

Hard Disk: 1.2 GB Hitachi SCSI drive connected to: Adaptec 1542B # 1
CDD 521:   Connected to : Adaptec 1542B # 2

The Philips unit requires the SCSI bus for itself when writing. Therefore
I went with 2 adapters. The primary need not have been a SCSI, but I prefer
SCSI because of OS/2 support and ability to add tape drive etc. As a matter
of fact, the Adaptec # 1 is connected to the Hard Disk, a DAT and a Hitachi
3750 CD-Rom.

For the O/S, I prefer MsDos. Because it is the dumbest, stays close to the
hardware and no hassle with multitasking executives not delivering the
sustained data rate required by the cd-recorder. I use it as a dedicated
appliance when writing to the CD. Period.

The CDD521 is double speed and does a CD in about 30 minutes. You can do
multisession CDs. You are supposed to be able to do CD-DA, XA etc. I have
not done any of that yet, due to software limitations.

Cost: $ 6500

Software:

CD-Write. Software written by Digital Equipment (?), sold by Philips,
supported by nobody in particular. Skimpy document amounting to some
4-5 pages. Software basically has 2 ways of writing a CD.

1. It can format ISO-9660 on-the-fly from one or more directory trees
   on a source hard disk directly to the CD-R media.

2. It can also write a previously formatted ISO-9660 image file from
   the hard disk to the CD-R media.

One of the options allows you to create the ISO-9660 image file from
a hard disk directory tree.

Volume Descriptor data can be customized via a Descriptor File. The document
is so poor that I have not been able to figure out how to write this file
without CDWrite software aborting with some syntax error. Whoever designed
and documented this piece of work is probably a compiler writer somewhere
in the VMS development team at DEC. He deserves to be shot, IMHO. The fact
that I have had this system for 3 months and still cannot find answers
should speak volumes about Philips support for the CDwrite software.

So, this software can handle only DOS file structures. However if you
manage to create a ISO-9660 image of anything else by using other software,
CDwrite can use that image to burn the CD-ROM. No way to do mixed mode,
CD-DA or anything else fancy.

Cost: about $ 2000 (ouch, ouch). You get one diskette, 8 pages of
      incomprehensible document and severely limited software.
      Basically a copy program that formats to ISO9660 and keeps the
      recorder's buffer filled.

Options:

If you are serious about this, you will forget about CDWrite and look for
alternatives. Two of them show promise (staying with the PC platform).

(a) Optical Media International:
    QuickTopix for Windows. Costs around $ 2500. (Compared to CDwrite's
    price/features, this is a steal).

It supports CDD-521 as well as the more expensive Sony CDW-900E recorder.
    You can do: Mode 1, Mode 2 Form 1
    Will produce ANSI tapes for replication elsewhere as well as CD-R
    Software available for Macs, PCs and Unix.
    ISO-9660 formatting
    Native file system on CDs by using Disk Image feature.
    GUI based user-interface.
    Can accept input from many sources such as DDS DAT, Exabyte, network
    drives and so forth...
    Support for CD-ROM XA, CD-I and CD-DA will be available in future.
    Not sure if simulation of CD-Rom from an image file is possible.


Support is likely to be much better than Philips. But that is not saying
much. ANYTHING may be better. :-)

Contact: Optical Media International
         180 Knowles Dr, Los Gatos, CA 95030
         800.347.2664 or 408.376.3511.   Fax: [phone]


(b) CD_ROM Strategies Inc.
    CD.GEN

    Interesting piece of software from a joint venture between TATA and
    Unisys. TATA is an Indian conglomerate. (India as in Asia).
    The software can output to CDD521 and Sony CDW900-E as well as to
    exabyte tape for replication outside.
    MsDos and Unix versions available now. MAC version available RSN.

    Can do ISO9660 formatting on the fly without generating an image
    Can do mixed mode, Supports multimedia (not sure what this means)
    Can simulate a CD-Rom from an ISO-9660 image file on hard disk.
    (Desirable feature. I want this.)
    Seems to have comprehensive facilities for laying out and optimizing
    the file structures before writing to CD. Can even edit an image file!
    Sounds impressive. I am thinking of getting this one.

Cost: $ 1500 PC Version

Contact: CD-ROM Strategies, Inc.
         18 Chenile
         Irvine, CA 92714
         714.733.3378   Fax: [phone]

    While this software appears to be feature-rich, their sales approach
    seems to be wanting. The guy I spoke to (a fellow countryman from
    India, sad to admit) was not interested in knowing about my problems
    their software will solve, did not volunteer _ANY_ information, (not
    even his name!), answered mostly in monosyllables and promised to mail
    something... What a turn-off!!!!

(c) Dataware Technologies
    CD.Record

Cost: About $3000.

    Don't have much details, as I have no interest in their software.
Contact: Phone: [phone]  Fax: [phone]


Enough for today. I think I have taxed people enough. Thanks for your
patience and hope someone other than the great CD-Pyro Simon finds this
useful. :-)

GeSS
--
Gess Shankar      |<><>| Internet: [e-mail]               |<><>|
CDPub List Admin. |<><>| {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!uumind!knex!gess |<><>|
What is a CDRom?  |<><>| 3 billion pits arranged in a 3 mile spiral!    |<><>|

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 01 Mar 93 17:59:36 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Classified data on CD-ROMs
The National Security Agency has recently adopted guidelines for using
the Tracor Aerospace's Ultron SCSI Bus encryptor. The Navy is going to
use the NSA-approved Type I encryption device to publish classified
intelligence data on CD-ROM for distribution to the fleet.

It appears that it will take 10 Super Crays 5 years to break the
encryption done by the Ultron U/SSP3110.

PC Plus, a reseller, is packaging the Encryptor and the JVC Personal
RomMaker. Once the CD-ROM is encrypted, only PCs equipped with the
encryptor/decryptor can read and decode the contents. Apparently
a decrypt only adapter board is being designed and will sell for about
$1000. The Ultron box costs mucho buckeroos... probably not very
cost effective. The Navy will probably use the money saved to buy
a couple more hammers, toilet seats and such .... :-)

With safe encrypted CD-ROMs, distribution becomes easy. No need to have
courier only distribution or expensive T1 lines for encrypted transmissions.
So when you next get a CD-R or CD-ROM and your system just dies trying
to read it, one of the assumptions you can make is that it is an
encrypted CD-ROM you found lying around.

The CD-ROM Architecture committee of IEEE is trying to come up with a
scheme so that CD Readers and software can identify such CDs and exit
gracefully instead of crashing or aborting with spurious errors.

By the way, what the heck is CD-ROM Architecture Committee? Any IEEE
members care to elaborate?


GeSS
--
Gess Shankar      |<><>| Internet: [e-mail]               |<><>|
CDPub List Admin. |<><>| {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!uumind!knex!gess |<><>|
What is a CDRom?  |<><>| 3 billion pits arranged in a 3 mile spiral!    |<><>|

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 08:24:37 PST
From: Robertj Jaquiss [phone]  DS 50-454 <emory!tekgen.bv.tek.com!robertj>
Subject: ETEXT DIRECTORY
------- Blind-Carbon-Copy

To: [e-mail]
Subject: ETEXT DIRECTORY
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 08:24:37 PST
From: Robertj Jaquiss [phone]  DS 50-454 <robertj@tekgen>

Hello:

     I saw this article in the newsgroup alt.etext and thought you would like to see it.

    Robert Jaquiss

Internet: [e-mail]

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 1 of alt.etext:
Path: tekgen!news.tek.com!uunet!ferkel.ucsb.edu!taco!rock!stanford.edu!agate!netsys!ibmpcug!pipex!unipalm!uknet!comlab.ox.ac.uk!oxuniv!archive
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: alt.etext
Subject: Georgetown Univ etext directory
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 17 Feb 93 15:30:18 GMT
Organization: Oxford University VAX 6620
Lines: 145

We thought this announcement might be of interest to your community.
It is also being sent to a number of other discussion groups in the
library and humanities communities.

Paul Mangiafico, project assistant

Center for Text & Technology                 [e-mail]
Academic Computer Center, 238 Reiss          [e-mail]
Georgetown University                        tel: [phone]
Washington, DC  20057  USA                   fax: [phone]




             CPET DIGESTS NOW AVAILABLE VIA GOPHER AND FTP


For the past four years, Georgetown University's Center for Text &
Technology (CTT), under the aegis of the Academic Computer Center,
has been compiling a directory of projects that create and analyze
electronic text in the humanities.  A relational database
accessible via the Internet, Georgetown's Catalogue of Projects in
Electronic Text (CPET) includes information on more than 350
projects throughout the world.

Now digests of project information -- organized by humanities
discipline and by language of the electronic text -- can be read,
searched, and retrieved by means of the Internet's protocols for
Gopher and anonymous FTP. There are digests for 40 different
languages, as well as for linguistics, literature, philosophy,
biblical studies, and a variety of others, ranging from Medieval
and Renaissance studies to Archaeology, African studies, and
Buddhism.


GOPHER - INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS

The CPET digests are organized into subdirectories on Georgetown
University's Gopher server.  If you have never used Gopher, you may
wish to consult your local Internet expert to determine whether you
have access to Gopher client software or to obtain for instructions
for using it.  At many locations, one simply types the word GOPHER
at the system prompt of the networked mainframe.

Once inside the main Gopher directory, look for CPET files under:

      Other Gopher and Information Servers
      North America
      USA
      Washington, DC
      Georgetown University

Please note that the menu item for Washington, DC, appears
alphabetically after Washington state and not after Delaware.

On the Georgetown server look into the directory
CPET_PROJECTS_IN_ELECTRONIC_TEXT, where you will find the following
files and subdirectories:

      1. CPET_DIGESTS_INTRODUCTION.TXT  (information on the digests)
      2. CPET_INTRODUCTION.TXT (information on the CPET database)
      3. CPET_USER_GUIDE.TXT (how to access the on-line database)
      4. DIGESTS_DISCIPLINES.DIR (digests organized by discipline)
      5. DIGESTS_LANGUAGES.DIR (digests organized by language)

The filenames of the digests have as extensions the approximate
size in kilobytes of each file; filesize will determine the length
of time needed to acquire the file.

Before retrieving any of the digests, please read the introductory
file (CPET_DIGESTS_INTRODUCTION.TXT).


FTP - INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS

The digests are arranged in a similar structure in Georgetown's FTP
server.  To survey the digests, first enter the following command
from your system prompt:

      ftp guvax.georgetown.edu  (or ftp 141.161.1.2)

When requested, login with the username ANONYMOUS and a password
according to the formula YOURNAME@YOURSITE.

Once within GUVAX, at the ftp prompt ( often either ftp> or * ),
change directories as follows:

      ftp> cd cpet_projects_in_electronic_text

Then if you then enter a directory command -- DIR -- you will find
the same files and subdirectories that are described in the
preceding section of these directions on gopher.

To inspect the other directories in a subdirectory, change
directories again.  Do not enter the .DIR extension or the version
number, and distinguish between hyphens and underscores when typing
the filenames.

For example, at the prompt enter a command such as the following:

      ftp>cd digests_disciplines

To explore further the directory structure and the file contents,
enter the commands to show the directory (DIR) or to change the
directory (CD) as often as necessary.

Note: some subdirectories contain more than one complete screen of
filenames, so when you enter a dir command, the initial contents of
the subdirectory may scroll off the screen.  To stop the scrolling,
use whatever device your system permits.  For example, with VAX VMS
one would use CTRL-S (that is, hold down the CTRL key and press the
S key) to stop scrolling and CTRL-Q to continue scrolling.

To retrieve a file, type at the ftp prompt the command GET followed
by the name of the file (with the filename extension) that you wish
to retrieve.  For example,

      ftp> get finnish.17K

A system message will confirm that the file has been transferred to
your computer (more specifically, to the directory from which you
invoked ftp).

To leave FTP, enter at the prompt the command BYE.

      ftp> bye


If you have any questions or comments on this service, or would
like to learn more about CPET and Georgetown's Center for Text and
Technology, please contact us at the address below.



Georgetown Catalogue of Projects in Electronic Text (CPET)
Center for Text & Technology
Academic Computer Center, Reiss 238
Georgetown University, Washington, DC  20057  USA
tel: [phone]        fax: [phone]

Contacts:
      Paul Mangiafico, CPET Project Assistant
           [e-mail]
      Dr. Michael Neuman, Director, Center for Text & Technology
           [e-mail]



------- End of Blind-Carbon-Copy

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 08:28:19 -0500
From: Tom Lathrop 588-0677 <emory!sector.Kodak.COM!tgl>
Subject: Multimedia authoring
To: [e-mail]

A couple of people have posted queries looking for multimedia authoring
systems. I received a Programmers Connection catalog in the mail last night
and there's a listing for a program called HyperWriter! by Ntergaid. From
the description: "HyperWriter! is an interactive hypermedia and multimedia
authoring system for creating online electronic documents and applications.
HyperWriter! documents can contain text, bitmapped graphics, animations,
videodisc images, digital sounds, and user-written programs... HyperWriter!
also has a royalty-free run-time." The Programmers Connection sells it
for $299 for DOS, $399 for Windows. The Spring 1993 catalog has an article
by the president of Ntergaid about CD-ROM authoring, although it's a
short article without much detail. Ntergaid is at [phone]. Programmers
Connection is at [phone], or [phone] for international.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about Ntergaid or HyperWriter! other than what
I read in this catalog. My only connection with Programmers Connection is
as a satisfied customer.

Tom Lathrop
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 26 FEB 93 12:10:25.54-GMT
From: emory!pucc.Princeton.EDU!FRIARC51.BITNET!ZIZKA
Subject: Multimedia authoring
To: [e-mail]

> From: EARN::"[e-mail]" "([e-mail])"    26-FEB-1993
11:38
> To:   "[e-mail]"
> cc:   Zdenek Vint at AARCS Lab, BCIT (via Lyon)
> Subj:  Multimedia authoring
>
> Message date : Wed, 24 Feb 1993 08:28:19 -0500
> X-Delivery-Notice:  SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender.
> Received: from EMUVM1 (SMTPV2) by EMUVM1.CC.EMORY.EDU (Mailer R2.08) with
BSMTP
>  id 1993; Fri, 26 Feb 93 05:33:23 EST
> Received: from emory.mathcs.emory.edu by emuvm1.cc.emory.edu (IBM VM SMTP
V2R2)
>    with TCP; Fri, 26 Feb 93 05:33:20 EST
> Received: from uumind.UUCP by
>       emory.mathcs.emory.edu (5.65/Emory_mathcs.3.4.6) via UUCP
>       id AA03255 ; Fri, 26 Feb 93 05:34:34 -0500
> Return-Path: [e-mail]
> Resent-Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 08:28:19 -0500
> Resent-From: [e-mail]
> Received: by mind.ORG (1.65/waf)
>       via UUCP; Thu, 25 Feb 93 03:47:02 -0500
> Received: by knex.via.mind.ORG (1.65/waf)
>       via UUCP; Wed, 24 Feb 93 18:42:19 EST
> From: [e-mail]
> Sender: [e-mail]
> Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
> Precedence: bulk
> Resent-Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
> X-Mailserver: V-MailServer 2.00  Beta 1.03
>
> A couple of people have posted queries looking for multimedia authoring
> systems. I received a Programmers Connection catalog in the mail last night
> and there's a listing for a program called HyperWriter! by Ntergaid. From
> the description: "HyperWriter! is an interactive hypermedia and multimedia
> authoring system for creating online electronic documents and applications.
> HyperWriter! documents can contain text, bitmapped graphics, animations,
> videodisc images, digital sounds, and user-written programs... HyperWriter!
> also has a royalty-free run-time." The Programmers Connection sells it
> for $299 for DOS, $399 for Windows. The Spring 1993 catalog has an article
> by the president of Ntergaid about CD-ROM authoring, although it's a
> short article without much detail. Ntergaid is at [phone]. Programmers
> Connection is at [phone], or [phone] for international.
>
> Disclaimer: I know nothing about Ntergaid or HyperWriter! other than what
> I read in this catalog. My only connection with Programmers Connection is
> as a satisfied customer.
>
> Tom Lathrop
> [e-mail]
>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1993 14:05:52 -0500
From: Tom Lathrop 588-0677 <emory!sector.Kodak.COM!tgl>
Subject: Multiple platforms (Q)
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] said:

> I would appreciate any information people could provide on supporting
> multiple platforms. Specifically, I would like to produce CD-ROM documents
> (hypertext, picts, sound, movies) on a Macintosh, and be able to translate
> to IBM and perhaps other formats as well.

One of the biggest problems facing multimedia, particularly multimedia on
CD-ROM, is the lack of standards for this sort of thing. ISO 9660 is
widely available as a volume and file format standard, but there are few
higher-level standards. (Or in some cases, too many competing standards.)

To produce and interchange compound documents such as you have described,
three things are necessary: a compound document format, authoring software to
create files which conform to the document format, and retrieval software
which runs on the end user's machine and allows him to interact with the
document as the author intended. Ideally, the document format is approved and
published by a standards body, rather than being something promoted by a
single vendor.

When you talk about "multiple platforms", I believe that what you mean is
that retrieval software must be available for all of the platforms of
interest. Typically the retrieval software is written to the CD along with
the compound document. To support multiple platforms, you would write
multiple retrieval programs to the disc. For instance, you could write
a disc with a number of images in some popular image file format (GIF, TIFF,
etc.), and put several viewing programs on the CD, one program for every
target platform.

There are several vendors of multimedia authoring systems. These systems are
often oriented towards people who want to put together presentations. I
haven't seen any which are specifically designed to be run from CD-ROM,
although they may be able to be used that way. I believe that these vendors
provide all 3 of the elements mentioned above: the authoring software, the
compound document format, and the retrieval software. I believe that most,
if not all, of these packages are targeted for a single environment, and
the document format is proprietary.

CD-ROM adds extra complexity to this picture. Ideally, you would like to
take advantage of the features built into CD-ROM XA for compressed audio,
still images, and full-motion video. But I don't think there are many
authoring packages which support this. And if there were, the device drivers
and low-level support software (e.g., Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions) don't
support these modes. I believe that most multimedia CDs for the PC platform
just use normal DOS files on ISO 9660 discs. Special formats such as CD-I
do support these modes, and should be capable of higher-quality multimedia,
but they require special players.

This problem doesn't just exist with multimedia. Even if all you want to
do is provide textual data, and some way for a user to easily retrieve it
(i.e, index and retrieval software), you will find it difficult to locate
a vendor who can supply retrieval software for multiple platforms. There
are no standards here either.

Part of the problem is that much of this technology is quite new, and still
evolving rapidly (e.g., video compression). It needs to get more stable before
standards bodies can deal with it.

Tom Lathrop
[e-mail]

Disclaimer: The above is my own opinion. It does not represent a Kodak
position.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 10:33:05 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Optical Laser
Optical Laser is a reseller offering a Desk Top Publishing package,
all ready to go.

They offer the Philips CDD-521 CD-Recorder, CD-GEN premastering
software (you may recall my writing about it sometime ago) and TDK
CD-R media.

Their ad makes the claim that CD-Gen is "the highest rated software
in a recent Jet Propulsion Laboratory comparison". I would sure like
to get hold of this comparison. I will call Optical Laser next week
to find out more about this JPL study. In the meantime, if any of you
have any information on this, please let us all know.

Contact:
Optical Laser
315 3rd Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92648   (why is everyone in CD-R in California?)
USA

Vox: 714.536.7990  Fax: [phone]

GeSS
--
Gess Shankar      |<><>| Internet: [e-mail]               |<><>|
CDPub List Admin. |<><>| {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!uumind!knex!gess |<><>|
What is a CDRom?  |<><>| 3 billion pits arranged in a 3 mile spiral!    |<><>|

------------------------------

Date: 19 Feb 1993 11:40:28 +0100
From: Peter Barneveld <emory!FenK.WAU.NL!peter>
Subject: Pinnacle breaks the price barrier
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

>According to the drive specs, the transfer rate is in 150kb/sec range.
>So to fill a CD-ROM, it is going to take about 63 minutes... The Philips
>does it in half the time, but you pay the bucks for it.
>

Yesterday I was at Philips in Eindhoven and they say that they now sell the
recorder for hf 12,000, which is roughly $6,000.

Peter

Peter Barneveld                         Internet: [e-mail]
Wageningen Agricultural University      Fax: (-)(31)8370-83777
Dpt. of Physical and Colloid Chemistry  Voice: (-)(31)8370-84962
Dreijenplein 6                          Zip code: 6703 HB
The Netherlands                         Feel free to ftp ftp.fenk.wau.nl

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 20 Feb 93 14:55:22 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pinnacle breaks the price barrier
emory!FenK.WAU.NL!peter writes:

> >According to the drive specs, the transfer rate is in 150kb/sec range.
> >So to fill a CD-ROM, it is going to take about 63 minutes... The Philips
> >does it in half the time, but you pay the bucks for it.
> >
>
> Yesterday I was at Philips in Eindhoven and they say that they now sell the
> recorder for hf 12,000, which is roughly $6,000.
>
In the US, it is selling around the same price range. Most integrators
like OMI sell a package for around $8500 which includes the premastering
software.

I am quite sure that OMI et al will support the Pinnacle drive too, if
Pinnacle is aggressive enough to garner support. If they wish to sell
only fully packaged solution, then it is a different story.

For now: I think that the Philips recorder provides the best value for
money. I am sure the competitive pressures will bring the prices further
down.

GeSS
--
Gess Shankar      |<><>| Internet: [e-mail]               |<><>|
CDPub List Admin. |<><>| {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!uumind!knex!gess |<><>|
What is a CDRom?  |<><>| 3 billion pits arranged in a 3 mile spiral!    |<><>|

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1993 10:41:03 +0200 (EET)
From: Antti Auer <emory!jyu.fi!auer>
Subject: Pinnacle breaks the price barrier
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

On Thu, 18 Feb 1993 [e-mail] wrote:

> Hello CD-Publishing enthusiasts,
>
> If you thought the Philips recorder brought the $30,000 price for
> CD-ROM Recorder solutions down to manageable levels, Pinnacle has
> some news for you.
>

Any opinions concerning Philips CDD521, listprice $7995 (BYTE jan93).
I refer to writer (Jon Udell) in Byte:"I rate it (along with similar
products from SONY and JVC) as one of the two or three most important
developments I've seen during my career at BYTE."

Antti Auer

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1993 09:02:07 -0500
From: emory!nd.edu!Michael.Langthorne.1
Subject: what about Kodak?
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
hopeful about CD-XA.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1993 09:02:07 -0500
From: emory!nd.edu!Michael.Langthorne.1
Subject: what about Kodak?
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
hopeful about CD-XA.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 23 Feb 93 13:04:48 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: what about Kodak?
emory!nd.edu!Michael.Langthorne.1 writes:

> I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
> CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
> Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
> use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
> hopeful about CD-XA.
>

My own understanding is that the Kodak product is in fact the Philips
CDD521 in a different color scheme. I do not have much information about
the kind of software available from Kodak for cd-rom premastering in
general. My own guess is that their software may be too specific to
PhotoCD. But I am guessing here.

How about someone posting some details on Kodak CD Writer? The Philips
unit (on which the Kodak is based) is capable of writing XA/PhotoCD etc.
I wonder if Kodak provides software only solutions that will work with
other cd-rom writers (at least the Philips).

Is the Kodak writer cheaper than the Philips?

GeSS
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Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 09:20:40 -0500
From: Tom Lathrop 588-0677 <emory!sector.Kodak.COM!tgl>
Subject: what about Kodak?
To: [e-mail]

emory!nd.edu!Michael.Langthorne.1 writes:

> I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
> CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
> Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
> use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
> hopeful about CD-XA.
>

At the present time, the Photo CD format is proprietary. Kodak does not
sell software to write discs in Photo CD format, except as part of the
Photo CD Imaging Workstation which is sold to photofinishers. That's
quite an expensive product (it includes a Sun workstation, a film scanner,
and the PCD 200 CD writer). I've heard rumors that Kodak may license
software to write Photo CDs to government agencies and other organizations
which have a need to write large numbers of Photo CDs, but I don't know
if this is the case.

Gess Shankar responded to Michael:

> My own understanding is that the Kodak product is in fact the Philips
> CDD521 in a different color scheme.

That's basically true, although the Kodak writer also has the ability to
read the bar code which we put on our Kodak media. (We make our own media.)
We think we can give you better support than Philips, also, particularly
if you use our media and software.

> I do not have much information about
> the kind of software available from Kodak for cd-rom premastering in
> general. My own guess is that their software may be too specific to
> PhotoCD. But I am guessing here.

We currently have authoring software available for DOS, and we have announced
software for Windows, Macintosh and Unix (SunOS). The software we currently
sell can write discs in ISO 9660 or High Sierra formats, single session.
Since our writer is compatible with the Philips writer, any authoring software
which works with the Philips writer should work with ours.

I don't have pricing information on the writer, the media, or the software.

For more information, call [phone], ext. 52.

Tom Lathrop
[e-mail]


DISCLAIMER:
Kodak provides me access to this Net, and is not responsible for my postings.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 Feb 93 09:37:34 PST
From: emory!ucdavis.edu!jpgorrono
Subject: what about Kodak?
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

>I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
>CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
>Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
>use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
>hopeful about CD-XA.


My understanding is that Kodak is still the only people/place/thing that
can master PhotoCD.  Has there been a change in their policy?

___________________________________________________________
Jon Gorrono
Media Integrator
Instruction and Media Support
Information Technology
UC Davis   95616
[phone]

[e-mail]          Disclaimer: U C me, not UCD
___________________________________________________________

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Date: Wed, 24 Feb 93 05:20:40 -0800
From: "Robert A. Bruce" <emory!cdrom.com!rab>
Subject: what about Kodak?
To: CD-R & CDRom Publishing Discussion List <[e-mail]>

emory!nd.edu![e-mail] said...
>I've seen much traffic on Pinnacle and Philips, bit little about the Kodak
>CD Writer, which I thought was the best deal of the first 3 out (JVC,
>Philips, and Kodak), at least the price was right and it seemed easy to
>use.  I would like the ability to do PhotoCD, and am beginning to be very
>hopeful about CD-XA.

The Kodak CD Writer is a repackaged Philips CDD-521.  As far as I know,
the only difference is that the case says "Kodak" instead of "Philips".

    -bob

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 10:21:25 EST
From: Gess Shankar <[e-mail]>
Subject: Young Minds
Young Minds, Inc. (YMI) has made their CD Studio cd premastering software
available for IBM RISC System/6000 work stations. CD Studio is unix
based, so I assume that YMI has done a port of their software suite to
AIX running on the RS/6000.

The CD Studio package will sell for $18,250 (ouch, ouch). For this much
of smackeroos, you get YMI's Makedisc premastering software, CD Studio
controller (probably a microchannel scsi card), 1 GB hard disk and
the Philips CDD-521 CD Recorder.

Contact:
Young Minds Inc.
1910 Orange Tree Lane Suite 300
Redlands, CA 92374
USA

Vox: 714.335.1350  Fax: [phone]
..........................................................................
Disclaimer: I am not associated with YMI or any other vendors. Not yet
anyway.. :-)  I am posting such announcements and tidbits simply for
the edification of the subscribers of this list. Please let me know
if you would like to see such news continue.

GeSS
--
Gess Shankar      |<><>| Internet: [e-mail]               |<><>|
CDPub List Admin. |<><>| {rutgers,ogicse,gatech}!emory!uumind!knex!gess |<><>|
What is a CDRom?  |<><>| 3 billion pits arranged in a 3 mile spiral!    |<><>|

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