Compact Discs–the same small, shiny platters that have taken the music world by storm–are entering the computer arena as CD-Read Only Memory (CD-ROMs), and mass storage will never be the same.

When we learn about the internals of a microprocessor, we are shown a diagram that resembles the 8-bit devices of the 1970s. There will be an ALU, a program counter, a set of registers, and address… ...

This means, for example, that an entire encyclopedia, ... Originally, computer CD-ROM players, which are about the same size as a 5 1/4-inch hard disk drive, sold for $1,000 and up.