A beautiful picture that shows to me what made CD-i popular: The kiosk systems that were everywhere available in The Netherlands, like in libraries and stores. Some of them with original peripherals taped on the front panel, others with built in Roller Controllers (see below). The one above was available in our local library. This one has a white version of the CD-i trackball, you don't see that often (it is working on a CD-i 205/910 player).
The one below was available in our local hospital. Do you remember one of these kiosk systems?
Philips marketed CD-i heavily, mainly in local video stores and libraries, as movies and reference/educational titles were a big part of the starting CD-i business. Philips gave away lots of these CD-i kiosk systems; a cabinet with built-in TV and CD-i player while the catalogue is presented on shelves underneath it. With a big Philips CD-i print on top of it, these cabinets I saw literally everywhere. They were used in supermarkets so the kids could play Sesame Street while the parents were shopping. They were used in libraries to show of the Compton Encyclopedia. They were used in warehouses to show people the latest entertainment. I loved these cabinets. The top always was above anything else in a store/place, so you could see from far away that a CD-i kiosk was there. After CD-i had gone away, our local video store still kept the cabinet to present other kind of games and videos. They did that for a long time. Maybe you remember this one in your local store:
And perhaps you remember us telling you more about the Raleigh kiosk systems, based on CD-i:
[Source: http://www.tekkiepix.com]