After subjecting Corey, my just-turned four-year-old very patient granddaughter, to about an hour of looking at memory and hard drive upgrades at a computer super store, I decided that the only fair thing to do would be to get her some CD-ROM software. I must explain two reasons why she has very little software. Corey's father monopolizes the computer in an effort to finish his thesis and her mother doesn't believe that CD-ROMs constitute the most important use of her time. She doesn't watch television, either. Nevertheless, we moved over to the children's area of the store where the shelves were lined with colorful boxes and where a kiosk allowed children and parents to sample software. To placate Corey's mother, I decided to get something educational. To placate her father, I decided to look for something that is easy to install and easy and quick to operate and use. In this way, when he took a break from his thesis, Corey could hop on the computer, have a little fun, get some education, and then leave. To please me, the CD-ROM had to meet a whole list of requirements, starting from not being boring to both my granddaughter and me, and ending with meeting the $3-per-hour entertainment number. That is, if a CD cost me $30, it should hold promise of entertaining Corey for 10 hours.
Well, we sat down in child-size chairs at the kiosk. A sign indicated that we should put on the nearby ear phones. There were no ear phones. Instead, there was continuous playing of one of the CD-ROMs over a loudspeaker. Apparently, one person in the kiosk controlled that. Since no one was there, we would be the controllers. Of the 10 titles available, we could get only three to work. Of those three, several of the paths were disabled, which I found highly frustrating. The three that worked consisted mostly of advertisements. Another child sat down with a parent, and somehow figured out how to control the external speakers, so we ceased to get sound. I was discouraged. I was disgusted. I asked the salesman for help and got none whatsoever. I decided to consult some CD-ROM references for reviews of CD-ROM content before making this purchase. I assuaged my increasing guilt by buying Corey three gum balls.
While several sites allow you to buy CD-ROMs, I found I had to be very careful to get real critiques rather than sales pitches. I found the following interesting and useful Internet references.
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