This is not good:
A computer disc about the size of a DVD that can hold 60 times more data is set to go on sale in 2006. The disc stores information through the interference of light – a technique known as holographic memory.
The discs, developed by InPhase Technologies, based in Colorado, US, hold 300 gigabytes of data and can be used to read and write data 10 times faster than a normal DVD. The company, along with Japanese partner Hitachi Maxell announced earlier in November that they would start selling the discs and compatible drives from the end of 2006.
“Unlike other technologies, that record one data bit at a time, holography allows a million bits of data to be written and read in parallel with a single flash of light,” says Liz Murphy, of InPhase Technologies. “This enables transfer rates significantly higher than current optical storage devices.”
The discs, at 13 centimetres across, are a little wider than conventional DVDs, and slightly thicker. Normal DVDs record data by measuring microscopic ridges on the surface of a spinning disc. Two competing successors to the DVD format – Blu-ray and HD-DVD – use the same technique but exploit shorter wavelengths of light to cram more information onto a surface.
Damnit!
It cost me thousands to convert all of my Pr0n from VCR to DVD. I don’t want to have to do it again.
And yes, I am joking.
kl
So you DO want to have to do it again.
Jcricket
The digital revolution is on the march.
Why does your pr0n hate freedom?
Actually, I read that the optical disks you mention are capable of up-to 1.6TB of storage (all the Abrahamoff files) and had sub-hard-drive seek times.
Walker
This is not a DVD replacement. It is a removable media format for PCs. Think ZIP drives. The cost of each disk will be cheap only when compared to hard drives and other read-write media on a per gigabyte basis. You aren’t going to be able to give these away in a box of cereal like a DVD.
The DVD comparison only exists because they were used to store HD video in the prototype demos. Indeed, if they reach 1.6 TB and sub-hard-drive seek times, then the main application of these will be to rip DVDs (I know a couple of parents that would like to rip family-oriented DVDs to a single hard drive so the kids only have to play with a keyboard to start a movie, and not any mechanical parts), not sell them.
triticale
Kind of like what they told us about CDs.
“This is not a floppy replacement. It is a removable media format for PCs. Think ZIP drives. The cost of each disk will be cheap only when compared to hard drives and other read-write media on a per kilobyte basis. You aren’t going to be able to give these away in a box of cereal like a floppy.”
I actually remember thinking that it would be cool to have a hard drive big enough to hold the entire contents of a CD, as that would be faster than even those expensive 4X CD drives.
demimondian
Actually, no. The red book format is designed to be easy to mass produce. The holographic disks don’t seem to have that property.
Yet.
blogReeder
I read about this a few years ago. Glad to see they finally have a product.
slickdpdx
‘Exxagerating’ doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as ‘joking’.
rilkefan
I have to register my disapproval of “damnit”. It’s “damn it” or “dammit” or nothing.
David
“What?!! You mean I have to buy the White Album again?!!”
scs
I know. I’m pissed too. I broke down and bought my first VCR a couple years ago. I thought I had a litle time left before the DVD’s. First my little local shop stopped carrying video, then I went to Blockbuster, then they practically stopped, then I went to Hollywood, then they stopped. Now I have no choice but to switch. The bastards.
S.W. Anderson
It’s enough to make a guy feel insignificant. Takes me a long time to fill up a CD, and I’ve yet to really need the capacity of a DVD writer.
So, here comes another pricey gizmo we’ll all be obliged to “upgrade” to, whether we need or want it, or not. And like the gizmos we have now, ain’t nobody going to be caught dead repairing one that goes bad. No, just buy a new one — and be quick about it, because there’s this new technology just a few months from being introduced, and the makers want to sell out the existing product before the new one debuts.
blackfrancis
of course y ou aren’t joking. you had the foresight to stick with the porn on vhs. the classics don’t look the same on dvd.