The Complete National Geographic 109 Years

From the Manufacturer

The Complete NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC – 109 years is an award-winning collection that includes every page of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine since 1888. Easily search for more than 180,000 spectacular photographs, more than 9,300 fascinating articles, and every page map and advertisement that has appeared in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC over the past 109 years.

Review

The makers of this disc meticulously compiled 108 years of National Geographic magazines, sometimes combing garage sales and used-book stores to find them. They then scanned 2,200 pounds of material to make 30 searchable CDs. But apparently they forgot – or couldn’t figure out how – to turn up the scanner resolution.

So, for two Ben Franklins, you get access to every page of every National Geo, complete with a passable search engine. But to read it, you’re going to have to work those peepers.

The total package – 188,500 pages wrapped in 30 chronological CDs – totals 300 gigabytes for the National Geographic buff.

The Last Words:

Mark: Whether onscreen or in printout form, the text is virtually unreadable. The result may be useful to archivists and researchers, but as an educational tool, it’s no substitute for a library card.

Judy: Despite an expansive collection of information, Web access, and the basic zoom-in, zoom-out features, the disc is difficult to maneuver.

Joe: So what’s the jump between 40 visually sharp CDs instead of 30 subpar ones? Give the folks at National Geo a pat on the back for the effort, but don’t give them your Visa number until they make it readable.

Rating:1/4

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