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Review Comments: Italia 2000Thank you very much indeed for the thoughtful review of the Italia 2000 package which recently (26/1/01) appeared on the C&IT Centre site. I would like, if I may, to reply to a few of the points raised in connection with the Italia 2000 CD-ROM software. I am very grateful to Mark for the largely positive and generous comments he made about the CD; I am also keen to offer some insight into the disappointments which compromised his use and enjoyment of it. I think the two main problems he notes are technical difficulties, possibly related to the use of the new Windows ME platform. First, the symbols selected for video controls are not, as the review supposes, the counter-intuitive assortment of characters mentioned. They should, in fact, be shown as the video symbols universally used for Start / Stop / Play / Pause / Fast Forward / Rewind. I suspect the problem must lie with the installation of the font which provides these characters both in the software and the help facility: the authoring software is supposed automatically to put in place a font called agbwidge.ttf. If it is not properly installed in the Fonts directory, it will not show up on screen. This likewise explains why the 'tick' and 'cross' characters in some exercises were unhelpfully displayed, and why, in answer to the question posed in the review, there might appear to be a 'strange' character shown alongside the text of the control buttons. To see how the software looks with the correct symbol font in use, look at the 'Screen Shots' section of the Italia 2000 CD-ROM development web site: http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/ital2000/CD/screen.html Difficulties with font installation were checked out and corrected in early stages of evaluation, and this is the first instance I've heard of any problem with the published CD-ROM. In case there is a serious problem, I've made the font available on the Italia 2000 CD Web Site http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/ital2000/CD/ so that it can be downloaded and installed manually where necessary. The second problem mentioned in the review is that of the video sound working fine within Windows Media Player, but not within the Italia 2000 software itself. I have no idea why this should happen; obviously enough, the software would never have been released if such a problem had arisen duing development. Normally I'd suggest checking sound card configurations and enlisting professional technical support. Perhaps an answer to both these problems may lie with the review's first choice of operating system: Windows ME. The package was developed and tested for Windows 3.x, 95, and 98 long before Windows ME arrived on the scene, so there may be subtle conflicts between the authoring software (ToolBook) and ME which simply couldn't be foreseen at the time of development. Certainly the rubric to the software clearly states that it is for use with Win 3.x 95 or 98. I would be interested to know if other users have similar problems with the three stipulated platforms, or whether this really is a Windows ME problem. The review also notes occasional problems with video and audio quality on CD and tape, raising questions which it partly answers. I would add that in any multimedia package, the specification and quality of video and audio cannot hope to please everyone. The trade-off is between making sure the software is usable on older hardware such as is still to be found in many schools and colleges, and trying to maintain good picture size and quality. The video used on the Italia 2000 CD reflects the compromise reached on these and other scores some two or three years ago when the disk was in full production. It should nevertheless perform to the basic standards envisaged on most machines. Finally -- and I should make clear this is entirely my personal view -- I've been disappointed that the Italia 2000 package has been marketed so poorly by the publishers. A great deal of time and effort went into the creation of all its component parts, yet it remains difficult to get hold of and (in the case of the CD-ROM) is subject to inflexible licensing arrangements. I am hopeful (though without being in any position to confirm) that when the agreement with the current publishers lapses, new and better arrangements for the dissemination of the package may take effect, and that more learners of Italian will be able to make use of what the review calls an enjoyable, value-for-money package. Mark, thanks again for your review; likewise thanks to Marina Mozzon-McPherson for her earlier review in ReCALL, and, for including the reviews on the C&IT Centre's web site, to Fred Riley and Janet Bartle. Gavin Burnage (Italia 2000 CD ROM designer/developer) Gavin Burnage www: http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/call/
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