The Business and Technology of Electronic and Optical Publishing

This is the first of a two‐part article on the emergence of CD‐ROM in the online publishing industry. Part 1 introduces the business and technology aspects of electronic and optical publishing, and suggests some issues which distinguish and some which bind the two together. Part 2 looks at the applications and the users of electronic and optical publishing products, and suggest some overlap and some sacred ground unique to each medium and its content and customer base.