其他摘要：This paper, entitled “CD-ROM: Current situation of its distribution and problems in Japan”, was delivered at a lecture, cerebrating the 70th anniversary of Maruzen Sapporo Branch Office/Store on Friday, 27 November 1992. The speaker illustrated the evolution of the information society from the 1950s to date by describing characteristics in each decade. Highlighting multi-media, CD-ROM, as one of the remarkable developments observed in the 1990s, he compared the CD-ROM distribution system in Japan to that commonly seen in other countries. He also elucidated various problems which CD-ROM distributors are facing with in the underdeveloped marketplace. In his conclusion, he outlined recent trends in the CD-ROM utilization and emphasized the need of understanding and cooperation among the producer, the distributor and the user in order to make this new media popularized in this country.
