A single CD-ROM disc can hold up to 680 MB of information. You could conceivably store 150,000 printed pages or about 250 large books on one disc. This amount of storage seems almost limitless compared to the 40-100 MB hard drives currently popular.
This isn't quite true. Even though ASCII text requires relatively minimal storage, a full-featured multimedia title probably includes not just text but animations, audio sequences, and full-color images—all of which require substantial storage.
So don't fool yourself in thinking that CD-ROM offers a panacea to all storage restrictions. If you plan for your title to be more than just text, you better also plan how to best use the space on your disc. Images, audio, and animations will quickly take over the space available.