One of the best things about this site is its lack of posturing. In a medium that relentlessly strives to be "hip," Discovery Channel Online manages to convey, without self-consciousness, a sense of wonder about the natural world. It's an impressive achievement, and also quite refreshing.

The natural world is in fact the major organizing principle of the site: its "World" section contains the bulk of Discovery Channel Online's content, organized by category and keyed to each day of the week. While the strengths of these respective categories are somewhat uneven—Thursday's "Wings" section (covering aviation) seems less relevant than Monday's "History," Tuesday's "Nature" or Wednesday's "Science" sections, for example—there are good things to be found in each of them. We especially liked the overview pieces provided in History, and Saturday's Technology feature on "alt.tech.analog" recordings.

(Editor's Note: the site's organizational structure has changed somewhat from the time of our review.)

Discovery Channel Online also features rotating specials, which are generally quite good. (If you saw and enjoyed the movie Free Willy, be sure to check out DCO's coverage of Keiko, the film's star.)

This may not be the hippest site around, but lots of people think it's cool. We'll bet you think so, too.

(Reviewed November 19, 1996)