NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/os/os9/1431

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 1.7 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Ken Ellinwood)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os9
Subject: Re: CD-I at Sears
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Date: 17 Nov 92 19:32:10 GMT
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Mike  Coughlin writes:

> There is no way to attach a keyboard to a
> CD-I player so you can't use the OS-9 inside. There are many people who
> want to find a way around this, but so far I haven't heard of any way to
> convert a consumer CD-I machine into a real computer.

The CD-I Full Functional Specification requires that all CD-I players
have a minimum set of features and functionality (these requirements
are commonly referred to as the "base case").  The specification also
allows for extending the functionality of a CD-I player above the base
case to allow for keyboards, disk drives, modems, MIDI, LAN, etc.  So
it is possible for a manufacturer to make a CD-I player that looks and
acts a lot like a normal computer.  In fact, the way I read the spec,
Philips could have chosen to include a keyboard with its base case
CD-I 910 player but chose not to.  However, Philips is marketing CD-I
as a "player", not a "computer".  This is because there is a wide
perception in our buisness that the average person who buys consumer
electronics is intimidated by the complexity of computers and is more
amenable to buying a "player".

Ken Ellinwood, Senior Software Engineer
Philips Interactive Media
11050 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
[e-mail]