Product Description

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #889 in Software
• Brand: Riverdeep - Learning company
• Model: CNC3744AE
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT
• Format: CD-ROM

Amazon.com Review
Parents have always bought National Geographic magazine to expand their children's horizons as much as their own. Both will find an almost inexhaustible source of information and entertainment in The Complete National Geographic, an astounding collection of every article, photograph, and advertisement from 110 years of the magazine's history.

For those of us who suffered through sunny afternoons spent with the Dewey decimal system--or, heaven help us, the microfiche machines--the marvel of a century's worth of this impressive magazine on CD-ROM can't be underestimated. The pictures come alive on the screen, and a robust search engine delivers spectacular results. (Especially in these days of watered-down and inappropriate search results, the National Geographic Library is a perfect synthesis of information and modern technology for wary parents.)

Of course, with this much information, it's impossible to package the material easily--the collection holds over 30 CDs, and interchanging discs based on the date can be a painful process. Be sure not to lose the installation CD, either, as it's the key to the set. Some technical disappointments appear, too, typical of print sources that make the jump to high tech; in particular, the print is difficult to read unless enlarged--and when enlarged, the pages don't fit without scrolling, even on a larger screen.

Even with that in mind, this is a set not to be missed. A literal library, it impresses with its heft and panoramic view of the world--and, sometimes, of the universe. A must for fans, a treat for kids and adults, The Complete National Geographic is an inspirational compendium. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Amazon.com Product Description
This CD-ROM set features 110 years of the National Geographic magazine--every page of the magazine printed since 1888. Discover the remains of the Titanic. Explore the lush beauty and lurking dangers of the Nile. Learn little-known secrets of the wild panda. Stand on the breathtaking rim of the Grand Canyon. For the first time on CD-ROM, National Geographic Interactive brings every exotic corner of the universe explored by the magazine right to your desktop.

Parents' Choice®
What you see is what you get- and there's plenty to see. Arranged by decades, this 30-disk CD-ROM set of The National Geographic Magazine that spans the 108 years of the world's most popular pedantic publication, has amazed children and adults alike. So much better than buying dog-eared National Geos at garage sales, the set is entirely searchable by year, by topic, even by images and by maps. Or, lick your thumb and browse electronically page by page-making sure to bookmark any you want to return easily to later. The historical references alone are remarkable because they are shaped by their own times and events and not hindsight. Visit MacIntoshhu Picchu in 1913 or the liberation of Paris in 1944. Whether examining the faces in the photographs from John Kennedy's assassination in 1963 or exploring the wildlife of the 1990s, the graphics are what you expect from National Geographic-only more so, since now it's a cinch to view their rare and insightful beauty on your computer screen. And the entire set takes up only 9 1/4 inches across your bookshelf! (Don Oldenburg, Parents' Choice®)

Customer Reviews

Very useful; but get DVD-ROM version instead
This is a great piece of work. All articles, pictures, maps of 110 years.

However, don't get the CD-ROM version. 31 CDs is too much to handle. If you do a search for a particular topic, it comes up with articles in 10 different CDs. Then you have to flip CDs in and out. I bought this for my father and it is a huge pain; brings back the days of flipping floppies.

Instead, get the DVD-ROM version. Doesn't look like Amazon sells it (at least right now), It's a lot more useful. There's only 3 DVDs to flip.

I've had it for two years and it always irritates me!
The big problem with this software is this:

You CANNOT copy and paste from the articles--they are stored at image files, NOT as text files.

Worse, if you try to print out the pages, the text is illegible. NG released a patch that would darken the text, but it didn't work--it darkens everything, so you just end up with a darker page.

I am a teacher and I was hoping to be able to use the articles in class, but I have not been able to.

I have had these CDs for more than two years and I have NEVER been able to use it in the way that I had hoped.

In short, this product has been nothing but a waste of money for me.

Poor Quality
We purchased this product to do some research for a trip which we are planning. While we found the search facility to be acceptable, the technology used to display the articles is generally deplorable.

Our plan was to look at the information using a laptop which has a screen resolution of 800x600. At this resolution, articles from the present back until 1970, can be read, but with some eye strain. From 1969 back until 1940, it is almost impossible to read the articles and from 1939 back until 1888, forget it.

We did find that on a desktop machine with a better resolution, readibility did improve somewhat, but the pre-1970 articles are still tough and the pre-1940 are still really bad.

The manufacturer of this product should be ashamed by the lack of quality. They apparently simply scanned in every page of every article without ever looking at the result. The company must have no quality control. I cannot understand how a reputable organization like the National Geographic Society could allow their name to be associated with this amateurish product.