The Complete National Geographic 110 Years

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.

On the bright side it looks great on my shelf gathering dust.

What a major disappointment.


A Nice Wooden Box   July 19, 2003
Robert Rogers (Gainesville, FL)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a decent program although I wouldn't have gotten it had I known the troubles I was going to have. The software is very outdated and does not have a nice presentation for the photos or articles. The big problem I've had, and still have, is that I'm unable to register by modem or mail. The software is designed to only search for dial-out connections and it doesn't recognize broadband. I have e-mailed and snail mailed out 2 copies of my registration form to the Mindscape software company and have gotten no reply. My best guess is that the product is no longer being made and no one will accept responsiblity for the copies still out in the stores. The best part about this program is I can store the CDs in the nice wooden box it came with.


Great concept, horrible execution.....   December 1, 2002
Kevinkar (Huntington Beach, CA USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I bought this set immediately after it was released and was apalled at what I had bought. While the concept of having every issue on disc was a great idea, the use of JPEG images for the data instead of PDF was completely botched.

Tech support, back in 1996, said they could have used less compression on the images of the pages, but they would have had to use even more than the 30+ CDs they had in the set and they decided that merely HAVING every issue would make up for any shortcomings in presentation.

The end result: a [very costly] set of 30 CDs I hardly ever use and it's a shame as I really wanted to sit back and enjoy as many issues as I could but the text, while mostly legible, is a chore to read.

Spend your money elsewhere or go to the library!