"Here’s an unassuming book, and not one that is meant to alter history, change the world, or lead anyone into any sort of revolution.
It is better than that.
The Education of a CD-ROM Publisher, by Chris Andrews...offers the reader something of incredible and rare value: perspective.
CD-ROM...this now ubiquitous form of digital media represented the first significant form of new media...It is around CD-ROM, one can argue, that the infrastructure of electronic publishing has been built...For those who insist that CD-ROM is ancient history, and today is is the Web that rules, some kindly advice: the human species has not changed all that much while the problems and challenges that face any would-be new media creator remain much the same. How to get a useful and, dare I say, inspirational handle on the key development in new media publishing?
Get some perspective. Read this book."
— David Guennette, from the foreword
"Andrews begins, in first person style, to unravel the history of CD-ROM much like an adventure novel. At first you may wonder, "Where is this book headed?"...you soon discover through Andrews' candid style that you have been enthusiastically introduced, via stories, to the pioneers of CD-ROM. I would recommend it for all libraries - even the public library."
— SLA Journal
(Special Libraries Association)
"Andrews, an experienced publisher, information manager, and innovator, is very frank and insightful...Reads like a spy novel...a smooth, informal, and sensitive style which includes humor throughout."
— CD-ROM Professional Magazine
"This is the most enjoyable and entertaining book ever written about the CD-ROM business...You will read it in one evening, interrupted only by reading some of the best parts to any nearby friends or relatives."
— Database Magazine
“This new edition of Andrews’ 1993 CD-ROM publishing industry memoir is a rare peek behind the scenes of a truly creative business. Andrews worked for many of the pioneering companies in the field, and in almost every genre, from library databases to business technical documentation to developing multimedia edutainment. The well-written book is filled with interesting personalities and important events in the history of a so far poorly documented but very important era of technical and cultural development.”
— The Editors at Amazon.com
