The issue of how content is organized on DVD ROM is in the hands of the Software Publisher's Association. This is apparently not as easy as it seems; issues of "backwards compatibility" with CD-ROMS and the continuing wars between hardware and software manufacturers continue to dog their work. Recently, Intel sponsored a conference through the Software Publisher's Association where hardware and software manufacturers met to try out their products on each other. The results were dismal. Don't look for plug and play capability from DVD ROMs for some time to come. Technology consultant and moderator of the most recent Software Publishers Association DVD forum Geoff Tully, points out that it will be awhile before DVD ROM are good for anything other than information retrieval. "As long as it's a bit bucket, it is only useful for transporting bits around." Tully commented, adding that the playback software is likely to be Microsoft's Direct Show that will operate in "Memphis" -- the next Windows environment from Microsoft. At last report, Memphis was due out next summer, but don't hold your breath.

[Interestingly, the e-mail between members of this group (or rather, its precursor, the Interactive Multimedia Association) finds Tully railing about a five year "life cycle" of a platform. Tully points out that such transitory formats make life impossible for software publishers.]

Even without these standards, title developers are releasing on this platform. The early offerings seem to be video-content heavy CD-ROM publishers like The Discovery Channel, who is planning to bring out their successful Animal Planet and other titles on the new medium. Tsunami has slogged through a pioneering experiment in interactive movie-making with Silent Steel (though the latter was a demonstration of the rejected MPEG1 standard) and plans a sequel. These companies are apparently grateful that someone has found a platform which presents full-motion video in a full-screen, quality format. The game-makers are jumping in as well. Westwood Studios is releasing Command and Conquer in the new format.

Don't look for a bevy of wildly creative new concepts from smaller companies right away, however. "The first wave of titles for the industry will be ports of older products," says Steve Dauterman, Director of Development for Lucas Arts. "This is very similar to the transition that happened when we moved from floppy disc to CD ROM." He adds that the new medium will help them with games that they ship on multiple CD-ROMs; they can now be shipped on a single DVD. Even considering the relative ease of porting products over to a new medium, however, Lucas Arts is taking a wait-and-see approach. "We're historically late adopters," shrugs Tom Sarris, Public Relations Manager for Lucas Arts, declining to name or date their first offering. "It may be 2-3 years."

Media watchers are generally sanguine about the prospects of DVD ROM in the years to come. "I think it's a solid upgrade for the computer," nods author Chris McGowan. "It's like a teenager," shrugged a systems analyst working for a major retailer, pointing to the lack of content for the new DVD ROM kits now available, "lots of potential, but no place to put it." Certainly, until the Software Developers Association (Gang of Ten: The Return?) publishes their authoring standards, or Microsoft releases Memphis and Direct Show, there is no reason to buy a DVD ROM.

But, no one in the industry is sweating that. The general hoopla for DVD ROM is scheduled for Christmas next year. Somewhere, in a cold and quiet corner of a northern toy factory, Santa Claus must be weeping.

The Battles Continue: DVD RAM, DVD ROM, And Bandwidth
About all we can do here is define these terms and give a rough idea of why they make it tough to buy a DVD or DVD ROM this year. The developments in these formats are in the battle stage, and about as tough to track and report on as, say, the developments in Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia.

DVD R, otherwise known as the "WORM" (Write Once Read Many) drive, will be a useful tool for industrial training, "one off" demonstration products, and educational purposes. These are DVD sized drives with the capability of recording to a disc one time only. DVD R drives will likely be of minimal utility for the average consumer.