Before the internet was big, encyclopedias on a disc were pretty popular on CD-ROM. It was a way to hve all kinds of knowledge close to you and available right within a few clicks. The digital encyclopedias by Compton's NewMedia offered next to text and pictures also video and special themes like the Time Machine. Philips saw the potential of these encyclopedias and bundled them with CD-i for free, but that was not how it started. In the very beginning you could buy the new encyclopedia CD-i disc for 200 pounds in the UK!
It reminds me of how it started with SPC Vision's encyclopedia called "Philips Media Interactieve Encyclopedie" in The Netherlands. This was sold for 300 NLG at launch, it was the most expensive CD-i disc I've seen (with an original price tag, I'm not counting the steep prices of Zelda's Adventure nowadays :) - Philips offered to take in your paper encyclopedia version and would offer you a discount for the CD-i version if you did that!
Many of us have nice memories with the Compton's Encyclopedia on CD-i. Especially because it was for many the first CD-i disc, as it was bundled with CD-i, but it was something special on your television, it was quite innovative to have an encylopedia holding so much knowledge at home on your television. I loved to go through the Time Machine, seeing the years fly by and pick one to find out what happened in this period.
I also loved the globe where you could zoom in like on Google Maps (just less fluid ;) ), pick a place and discover facts about this region.
If the internet was already big during the rise of CD-i, these encyclopedias would never have existed. It's like a small internet on a disc at home (considering the amount of knowledge that you could find on it!)
[Thanks, Steven Clinton]