A Pocketful of Miracles
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt/Las Vegas
The first electronic dictionaries and spell checkers were gizmos that came into being not because they were needed but because they were possible. The electronic brains in early models were so puny and sluggish that people thumbing through real dictionaries often took less time than the computers to find the right words; and sometimes the machines failed to find them at all.
That was five years ago -- an eternity in terms of computer development. Now fast, efficient spell checkers have become standard gear for the well-equipped student -- and for word-game addicts who like to cheat at crosswords or Scrabble. The devices have been joined by a silicon-based library of hand-held reference tools, including electronic thesauruses, translators, travel guides, desk encyclopedias and Bibles (King James, Revised Standard or New International).
Last week "books with batteries" were one bright spot in an otherwise recession-battered Winter Consumer Electronics Show -- Las Vegas' annual display of the latest beeping, blinking, thinking gadgetry. According to Personal Technology Research, a Waltham, Mass., firm, Americans spent $163 million buying 2.1 million electronic reference works last year, a total that is expected to grow 10% in 1992. Among the notable entries in this year's crop of pocket-size-book equivalents:
Big League Baseball.
A palm-top encyclopedia packed with 620,000 batting and 270,000 pitching statistics on every player who ever wore cleats in the majors. Franklin Electronic Publishers, $129.95.
26-Language Translator.
Your choice of 1,000 basic words in more languages than you will ever need, including Arabic, Yiddish, Serbo-Croatian and Swahili. SelecTronics, $79.95.
Language Master.
This latest talking dictionary and thesaurus with raised-dot keys was designed for the 85% of the visually impaired who can't read Braille. Franklin, $495.
Pocket PDR.
A hit with doctors last year, the newest version of the Physicians' Desk Reference lets you look up dosages, warnings, contraindications and adverse reactions on all 1,700 prescription drugs listed in the 1992 paper version of this tome. Medical Economics Data/SelecTronics, $299.
What's next? Franklin chairman Morton David talks about issuing half a dozen new titles each year and developing a backlist of best sellers. But his market may be threatened by the next technological advance.
Last November, Sony introduced its Data Discman, a $549.95 hand-held player that displays the text of books stored not on computer chips but on compact discs. Apple Computer chairman John Sculley has announced that his company will begin shipping a similar product next year. The advantage: CDs are relatively cheap and hold immense quantities of data. Among the 23 CDs currently available for the Discman is a single $40 item loaded with 150 classic works of literature, including the Iliad and Odyssey, the plays of Shakespeare, the complete Sherlock Holmes, and War and Peace. All that's lacking is time to read them.