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Sony Develops 25 GB Paper Disc

jaaron writes "TOPPAN Printing and Sony today announce the successful development of a 25GB paper disc based on Blu-ray Disc technology. Yes, that's right, *paper*. Details will be announced at the Optical Data Storage 2004 conference to be held from April 18th to April 21st at Monterey, California."

473 comments

  1. Interesting... by andy666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought IBM had done this already.

    1. Re:Interesting... by ReTay · · Score: 5, Funny

      They did it is (was) called a punch card..

    2. Re:Interesting... by consolidatedbord · · Score: 1

      History really does repeat itself!

      --
      while true ; do echo this is my sig; done
    3. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not very funny, given the parent post. How did you get modded +5 ?

    4. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Answer: MODS + CRACK = Tpical /. moderation

  2. Background... by thebra · · Score: 5, Informative

    PDF on Blu-Ray Disk.

    1. Re:Background... by donutz · · Score: 5, Insightful
      From the PDF:
      ...the recording lay in a Blu-ray Disc sits on the surface of a 1.1-mm thick plastic substrate, protected by a 0.1-mm thick cover layer. This only leaves the problem of surface scratching and fingerprints, which can be prevented by applying a specifically developed, innovative hard-coat on top of the cover layer. This protective coat is hard enough to prevent accidental abraisions and also allow fingerprints to be removed by wiping the disc with a tissue.


      So there's just a tenth of a millimeter protecting the recording layer. And I thought I had issues with CD's getting scratched...well, at least there's the "hard coat". But wait, there's more!
      Next section in the PDF says (emphasis mine):

      Despite the fact that Blu-ray Discs require the application of a cover layer and an optional hard coat, this should have little overal impact on disc manufacturing costs.


      The hard coat is optional. Wouldn't it be convenient for the manufacturers to release discs without the hard coat, that get easily scratched, that need to be re-purchased to be replaced? /conspiracy theory off
    2. Re:Background... by rnd() · · Score: 1

      Media like this is mainly a software distribution mechanism, and is thus more of a competetor to broadband than it is to long term storage media.

      You'll receive all 25GB of AOL v30 on one of these, stapled to a cereal box or magazine.

      --

      Amazing magic tricks

    3. Re:Background... by Bishop923 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The specs are no different than current tungsten foil discs, and I don't see how a paper media layer is going to be any more prone to damage than the ultra-thin foil we currently use. Have you ever tried peeling off a CD label that is firmly affixed? good chance you can rip the media right off the plastic.

      It would be nice if they just sandwiched the media between two .6mm pieces of plastic, wouldn't change the thickness of the disc, but at least there would be a bit more protection for the media.

    4. Re:Background... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldnt companies replace cds for free if the media got damaged? How can they expect to sell something to fragile and not take responsibility for it.

    5. Re:Background... by escallywag · · Score: 1

      While being an avid tin foil hat wearer myself, this wouldn't work because of market dynamics : When optical disk manufacturer X sells (intenionally) vulnerable disks, producer Y will, with little overal impact on the disc manufacturing costs, produce disks with hard coating and market them as "scratch resistant" or whatever... Consumers would catch on and produxer X would have to follow suit or get out of the optical disk manufacturing business...

    6. Re:Background... by Trepalium · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is all true, except when one particular manufacturer has a monopoly on a product, exactly the way copyright allows. Only Disney can authorize the reproduction of Disney movies, and if Disney decides they want to put them all on volitile discs that will be damaged easily, it's their choice. If you decide you want a Disney movie, you'll have no choice but to buy one of their discs that are designed to fail, or make an illegal copy yourself on a more durable medium. Copyright based industries don't compete with each other in the same way other industries do because their products are non-substitutable. When I buy bread, I can substitute any of the different brands with any other. If I want a LOTR movie, I can only get it from New Line Video, regardless of which store I go to.

      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
    7. Re:Background... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're completely right, CDs more often break because the top layer gets damaged, than by scratches. Frankly I'm fed up with CDs, they are not a good replacement for floppies and they are not a trustable backup medium.

    8. Re:Background... by sangreal66 · · Score: 1

      Your analogy is invalid. Sure if you want bread you can get it from anyone, but if you want wonderbread you can only get it from wonderbread. Just like if you want a movie you can get it from anyone, but if you want a LOTR movie you can only get it from New Line.

    9. Re:Background... by Trepalium · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Sort of. Anyone can make bread that tastes like, smells like, and looks like Wonderbread, as long as they don't call it Wonderbread. However, no one except those authorized by the Tolkien estate can make a movie that looks like, sounds like, or acts like a LOTR story.

      Put another way, if you REALLY wanted to see, say, Hellboy, substituting Spawn wouldn't help you. If you wanted to see Ella Enchanted, subtituting The Princess Bride wouldn't help. In comparison, if you wanted a sandwich, it probably doesn't matter if it's on OvenJoy, Safeway, or Wonderbread. The vast majority of people wouldn't know the difference unless they saw the bag it came in.

      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
    10. Re:Background... by pla · · Score: 1

      It would be nice if they just sandwiched the media between two .6mm pieces of plastic, wouldn't change the thickness of the disc, but at least there would be a bit more protection for the media.

      I think we call those "DVDs".

      Seriously. It astounds me that we'd take a step back with the next generation...

      Scratch the top of a CD, and you have a coaster (most people don't realize this, but your CDs will live longer if you store them such that any damage will occur to the bottom rather than the top. Scratch the top of a DVD, and you have a DVD with a scratch on top, but otherwise just fine.

  3. Reliable? by l810c · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc

    Seems like they would be very easy to damage.

    1. Re:Reliable? by Phekko · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ever looked inside a hard drive? The stuff inside is not that hard to damage, either. This is why it's meant to be kept inside. I would imagine the same principle applies to paper drives.

      --

      Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
    2. Re:Reliable? by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's a moot issue anyways... DVD's go through the office paper shredder just fine... the crosscut here that handles 10 sheets at a time destroys CD's and DVD's on a regular basis.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Reliable? by Lehk228 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      pointless as well, since scratching the foil off a CD is so hard (not) just take a knife to it to remove foil then crack it in half

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    4. Re:Reliable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Seems like they would be very easy to damage.


      Not by rocks though. Paper kicks rocks ass till both boots are shitty.

    5. Re:Reliable? by killyourblender · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but it would be so cool to use them as frisbees before you destroy them!!

      --
      "Would you rather be right, or happy?"
    6. Re:Reliable? by PretzelBat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wrong. This is meant to be a replacement for plastic media (read DVDs and CD-ROMs). It will NOT be kept inside anything (except maybe a jewel case).

    7. Re:Reliable? by Jahf · · Score: 1

      If you want more fun, microwave it ... just don't do it for very long at a time.

      --
      It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
    8. Re:Reliable? by ncc74656 · · Score: 1
      It's a moot issue anyways... DVD's go through the office paper shredder just fine...

      ...and if they didn't, 3-5 seconds in the microwave would render them unreadable. The light show is a nice bonus.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
    9. Re:Reliable? by tpengster · · Score: 4, Funny

      One of the most popular variations [of Rock, Paper, Scissors] is called "Cat, Microwave, Tinfoil". Cat beats tinfoil by ripping it up, tinfoil beats microwave by starting a fire, and microwave beats cat by cooking it. This version was created because, to the creators of Cat Microwave Tinfoil, it doesn't make sense that paper beats rock by covering it (as it doesn't damage the rock, while on the other hand it can destroy the paper by tearing it). [from Wikipedia]

    10. Re:Reliable? by Reductionist · · Score: 1

      Ahhh but doesn't this sorta defeat the purpose of the whole game since it's kinda difficult to create the shape of a cat, much less a microwave oven, with one hand?

    11. Re:Reliable? by Black+Jack+Hyde · · Score: 1
      Seems like they would be very easy to damage.

      "Simmons, I told you to leave that report disc on my desk. Where the hell is it?"

      "At the moment, sir, it's under your Diet Coke."

    12. Re:Reliable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cat ears = scissors.
      Tinfoil = same shape as paper.
      Microwave = all microwaves are the same shape as a brick, which is close enough to Rock.

    13. Re:Reliable? by carpe_noctem · · Score: 1

      I can personally verify this. Although at about the 74th copy of "Gigli", the shredder starts to choke up a bit, so be careful.

      --
      "Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
    14. Re:Reliable? by wdconinc · · Score: 1

      In a visit to Philips Research labs (1.5 yr ago), they made it very clear that the disc would only be used in a permanent hard-plastic cover (much like the iomega zip drives, only larger). At least that was Philips' idea... Sony wanted to use the protective coating.

    15. Re:Reliable? by borius · · Score: 0

      D'Argo, is that you?

    16. Re:Reliable? by torpor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      l, it doesn't make sense that paper beats rock by covering it (as it doesn't damage the rock, while on the other hand it can destroy the paper by tearing it)

      yes it does.

      s-p-r is a state game. whenever one of the objects changes state, it is the losing object. paper covering a rock stops it from being 'rock'. a rock, covered by paper, is not a rock. its a paper covered rock.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    17. Re:Reliable? by farzadb82 · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised it made it that far!

    18. Re:Reliable? by k31bang · · Score: 1

      I take it you have a sign over the shredder that says: "Disk resurfacing courtesy of BOFH"

      --
      -+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ *** http://www.mountainfort.com *** +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-
    19. Re:Reliable? by Alkaiser · · Score: 1

      The hard-plastic cover just makes it use MORE plastic. What's the point of that? Just make it the way it was before at that point.

      However, I get DVDs and CDs for durability...I'd like to see paper discs but only if they have a similar life span and are scratch resistant...otherwise, keep what we've got now.

      --
      Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
    20. Re:Reliable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear god, he's right!!! Paper will destroy us all!!!!

    21. Re:Reliable? by wurp · · Score: 1

      It's called sarcasm. Your sig is sarcastic, not ironic. Oh, the irony.

    22. Re:Reliable? by PretzelBat · · Score: 1

      Actually, sarcasm is a form of verbal irony. Thanks for *attempting* to correct me though. I appreciate the effort.

    23. Re:Reliable? by darkonc · · Score: 1
      My first thought was "not as trivial to teach to kids", but there's actually a use to cat, tinfoile, nukem: It implicitly teaches kids to keep both cats and tinfoil away from the microwave.

      BTW: symbol for cat: Cats' ears... same as scissors.

      --
      Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
    24. Re:Reliable? by brian728s · · Score: 0

      My favorite is to spin the disk up to about 10k rpm on a dremel. Then, take an exacto knife, and grind the foil off the disk like its a lathe. Your sensitive data is now a fine dust on the floor, and you have a clear frisbee that you can throw at people.

      "Hey, Bob, look out!"

      "What, I don't see anyt--"

      *smack*

    25. Re:Reliable? by ShecoDu · · Score: 1

      I once told that to my little daughter and now she always wins cause paper covers the scissors and now they are paper covered scissors... damn kids these days!!!

    26. Re:Reliable? by wurp · · Score: 1

      Well, I sincerely thank you for correcting my understanding. I also sincerely advise you that continually using irony as a defense mechanism is likely to lead you to heartache. You will find it difficult to correct or better yourself if you always use hurtful ways of defending your ego, not to mention difficulties you may have in finding sincere friends.

    27. Re:Reliable? by lexiconbt · · Score: 1

      woops. so my 10sheet crosscut choked about halfway through a cdr - it sounded like too much fun not to try. reminds me of when this unit first arrived. we looked at the user's guide, and figured it was better as a test sheet. i wonder what it said

      i might have to take this guy appart.

    28. Re:Reliable? by pyrote · · Score: 1

      Print the media with a conventional printing press (beit a really good one). then spray a liquid coating on.

      Really cheap process, and no metals involved.

      --
      THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!! eventually.
    29. Re:Reliable? by 10101001+10101001 · · Score: 1

      We use rocks to computer (silicon). We have paper storage (mentioned above). And scissors..err..are metal? I guess they're part of computing too..

      --
      Eurohacker European paranoia, gun rights, and h
    30. Re:Reliable? by torpor · · Score: 1

      well, you clearly haven't played s-p-r enough, because "PAPER CUTS ITS WAY OUT!"

      i hope you win at least a few more s-p-r games with her before she gets older ... ;)

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    31. Re:Reliable? by torpor · · Score: 1

      sorry. haven't had my cuppa yet:

      s/"PAPER/"SCISSORS/

      you know what i mean, anyway. do the finger cutty thing.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    32. Re:Reliable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dont think that it's enough to have it as Cat, Microwave, Tinfoil because it doesnt take flukes into account. I mean what if the cat is able to escape the microwave? There should be some sort of dice rolling system in place to account for that....

  4. Why? by afidel · · Score: 1

    It's not like the penny or two per plastic disk is a major expense.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plastic, non sustainable. Paper, properly managed is sustainable.

    2. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is when you factor in what becomes of those 'cheap discs' when they end their life cycle and end up in a landfill.

    3. Re:Why? by peggus · · Score: 0

      1. Save 1-2 pennies on each disk 2. multiply by 20 billion disks 3. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ 4. Profit

    4. Re:Why? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      My thoughts are that they'd make a great way to distribute data through printed media. Remember those Big Mac song "records" that McD's put in the newspapers about 10 years ago? You were supposed to play the record (and the Big Mac song) to see if you were a winner. While not quite as screwed up as that, a company could easily distribute videos, demos, music, and other interesting data elements all from the advertising section of your favorite newspaper or magazine.

    5. Re:Why? by afidel · · Score: 1

      You're assuming that these things cost nothing to produce vs the 1-2 cents per polycarbonite disk, that's just not true. At most you would save a small fraction of a penny, and in exchange you get a media that is less robust. With the exception of one time advertisements like the poster below mentioned I can't really see a use for this.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    6. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We recycle our paper, and it never ends up in a landfill. Is this "paper" not recyclable?

    7. Re:Why? by gilmour14 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Big Mac, McBLT, a Quarter Pounder with some cheese Fliet O' Fish, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a Happy Meal McNuggets, tasty golden french fries, regular and larger size A salad, chef or garden or a chicken salad oriental Big McBreakfast, Egg McMuffin, Hot Hotcakes and sausage Maybe Biscuits, Bacon, Egg and Cheese and sausage, danish hashbrowns too and for Dessert, hot apple pies, and sundaes, three varieties a soft serve cone, three kinds of shakes, and chocolatey chip cookies and to drink a Coca Cola, Diet Coke, and orange drink a sprite, a coffee, decaf too, a low fat milk also and orange juice I love McDonald's "Good Times, Great Taste" and I get this all in one place!

    8. Re:Why? by V.P. · · Score: 1

      These "paper" discs are just 51% paper.

    9. Re:Why? by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 1

      For one thing, paper is cheaper and less resource-intensive than aluminum. I can't really think of anything else.

      I don't get the "cut with scissors" angle. If it's easy to cut with scissors, it's also easy to reassemble with transparent tape. And it's easy enough (and more fun) to microwave DVDs as it is.

      --
      www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
    10. Re:Why? by blighter · · Score: 1
      I think that you've got the "Menu Song" there.

      The "Big Mac Song" went more like:

      Two all-beef patties, special sauce, letucce, pickles on a sesame seed bun.

    11. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember there being a menu song record where you could win if you had the right one. Was there one for the Big Mac song too?

    12. Re:Why? by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

      you forgot the cheese and onions...

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    13. Re:Why? by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      1. Make it so it costs $0.005 less/disc, but the discs are MUCH less robust
      2. Instead of selling the 20 billion discs you used to, you sell 100 billion because they keep failing
      3. $$$$$
      4. Profit!

    14. Re:Why? by Bob+McCown · · Score: 1
      and then the kid said it backwards:

      bun seed sesame, a on onions pickles cheese lettuce sauce special patties beef all two!

    15. Re:Why? by shawnce · · Score: 1

      You can now easily destroy all of that incriminating data when the fed knocks down your door... one flush or a swallow away from unrecoverable!

      Just don't put your cold glass of beer on the wrong thing...

    16. Re:Why? by 3terrabyte · · Score: 1
      I was going to post this, but will just go here.

      Since when is 51% paper considered paper? I guess we've been using paper DVD-R's for a long time now.....if you count the label on the spindle.

      Anyone know wha the other 49% is?

      --

      Why are there only 19 people folding@home for slashdot?

  5. Paper Eh? by Your_Mom · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, it must write in REALLLLY tiny letters.

    --
    Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
    1. Re:Paper Eh? by Weird+O'Puns · · Score: 1

      This must be how Gregory Blepp managed to get those 1.5 million lines of infringing code fit to a suitcase.

    2. Re:Paper Eh? by niff · · Score: 5, Funny

      no, the disc is 500x500 meter with double sided print.

    3. Re:Paper Eh? by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is going to cause expression collision. "It looks good, on paper." "The project is done, on paper." And scariest, "I'm serving you with these legal papers, 150 GB in all."

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    4. Re:Paper Eh? by fprog · · Score: 0

      Grandma where did you put my backups?

      What do you mean by backups!?

      Oh and by the way, I cleaned up your dirty desk!

      Grandma that's *NOT* Scott Towel!

  6. I was expecting 3M! by Walkiry · · Score: 1

    I mean, that's the natural next step from their post-it notes after all.

    Paper, I guess that "erasing data" has a whole new meaning now.

    --
    ---- Take the Space Quiz!
    1. Re:I was expecting 3M! by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      A 25 GB Post-It is not a "note"!

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:I was expecting 3M! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what he's saying! The next natural step: Note -> 25GB mass of data ;)

    3. Re:I was expecting 3M! by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      But when someone says "I left a list of project changes stuck to your monitor", which would you rather have?

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    4. Re:I was expecting 3M! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's probably the most beatific thing, now I can get an entire set of ready-to-import MS Project files - including a viewer(!), Powerpoint presentations, marketing reports, PHB updates in full-blown Word docs *and* PDF-for-print, ...oh, enlightenment.. Hrm, yes, I'm with you.

  7. NICE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now you can pass notes with BANDWIDTH!

  8. Ah, hell by KevinKnSC · · Score: 5, Funny

    There go my plans for a paperless office.

    1. Re:Ah, hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sometimes, it's too bad scores only go up to 5. :-)

  9. paper, scissors, fuck... by garcia · · Score: 1

    Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc".

    Since the disc is made out of paper, and the current number of optical discs is about 20 billion per year, it is easy to use even more trees.

    Since a paper disc can be cut by anything easily, it is simple to destroy data when handling the disc.

    1. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by One+Simple+Tear · · Score: 1

      Just because something is not used in the final product does not mean that it was not used in construction. Some electrcity is generated by burning wood. Large amounts of water are used to make computer componets, the lack of water, and water polution, as well as air polution, kill trees too. So paper disks dont have to kill more trees to be made.

      --
      Pryo stand by...... Pryo go...... OH **** wait!....... oh well, thats one less actor to worry about.
    2. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by PhoenixOne · · Score: 1
      "Since the disc is made out of paper, and the current number of optical discs is about 20 billion per year, it is easy to use even more trees."

      20 billion plastic disks filling up landfills or ~20 million "presto-logs" for home fireplaces (or used to generate energy, or made into paper bags, books, newsprint, toliet paper, etc...).

      I say bring on the paper disks!

      --
      Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
    3. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by operagost · · Score: 4, Insightful
      It bothers me that people are concerned about cutting down trees when they are a renewable resource and the products are heavily recyclable. If one was focusing on specific problems, such as wildlife conservation, I could relate. But it's always "CUTTING DOWN TREES IS BAD!" and not "We need to stop the logging in X region to save the Y species!"

      On a side note - man, the Japanese are really good at making things out of wood and paper, aren't they?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    4. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by DAldredge · · Score: 1

      We can plant more trees. Hell, a large portion of the trees used to make paper are grown on tree farms just for that reason.

    5. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by donbrock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >Since the disc is made out of paper, and the current number of optical discs is about 20 billion per year, it is easy to use even more trees.

      Hopefully, they'll be able to manufacture them using recycled paper.

    6. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "PAPER IS GOOD. Try wiping your ass with plastic."

    7. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by dasmegabyte · · Score: 1

      It's not always "cutting down trees is bad." That's just the message you're receiving. The real message is generally, "clear cutting old growth trees that house protected species in national forests at the behest of certain lumber companies who didn't properly manage their forests and resist recycling is bad." But some people don't stick around for those details. And the talking heads on the other side make it a "jobs" issue, when generally it's a "specific lumber company cut costs twenty years ago and now doesn't have enough mature trees to fill demand" issue. It's getting better and there are a number -- in fact, a TON -- of American lumber and paper companies that don't pillage the earth and who DO replant more than they take. But as long as lobbying congress to clearcut public lands results in "hey, free trees," there will be somebody to do it.

      I mean, everybody needs wood. Most of the environmentalists *I* know use more wood than the average person, from paper bags to wood furniture (although, ironically, they're more likely to build their HOUSES out of recycled plastic, old tires, etc). And lumbering on public lands isn't necessarily bad either...it's a great income stream for national forests who can use the money to pay for rangers and for better services. If you're ever in Ontario, visit Algonquin national park, a massive and beautiful park with tons of playboating and hiking in the south, and managed lumbering to the north. I've never seen a better maintained national park...and the lumber companies love it. The Adirondack High Peaks region is home to a number of logging companies as well, and they're also a beautiful park.

      It's only when greedy companies pick out public lands and say "We need to log in X public region, because it will be more profitable than waiting for our own trees to mature," or when the clear cutting of trees leads to soil erosion and the subsequent destruction of arable land, that there is a real environmental problem.

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
    8. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by dasmegabyte · · Score: 1

      I do it all the time. There are a number of extremely comfortable tissue products made out of a percentage of recycled plastics. Not to mention the ultra soft nylon and polyester fabrics used to make diapers, towels, fleece blankets and underwear.

      But of course, rational rebuttals rarely fit on bumper stickers.

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
    9. Re:paper, scissors, fuck... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why use paper when hemp is so much superior?

      And if hemp is actually not better in this case, using a little bit of paper in this situation probably has a less overall environmental impact than other media formats when all is said and done.

      Not only that but I think the parent posts were just joking.

  10. Punchcard by mgs1000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Man, that punchcard has gotta have teeny-tiny holes.

    1. Re:Punchcard by molarmass192 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow, I guess things really do eventually come full circle! Do we have to maintain the paper disks in an ordered stack too? ;-)

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
    2. Re:Punchcard by haystor · · Score: 3, Funny

      Bad memories. Bad, bad memories.

      Ordered stacks of punch cards are a major reason why Computer Science spends so much time on sorting algorithms.

      --
      t
    3. Re:Punchcard by glenebob · · Score: 1

      > Bad memories. Bad, bad memories.

      Maybe they used poor quality paper?

  11. Big Deal. by miskatonic+alumnus · · Score: 5, Funny

    When I was in college, I could cram 50GB of information on a 3x5 crib sheet by writing really really small.

    1. Re:Big Deal. by nova20 · · Score: 1
      When I was in college, I could cram 50GB of information on a 3x5 crib sheet by writing really really small.

      Good idea, but the teacher would probably catch on when you pulled out your microscope to read it.

      /nova20

    2. Re:Big Deal. by igny · · Score: 1

      how big is this deal ?

      --
      In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
  12. damn by Stevyn · · Score: 1, Redundant

    so much for the paperless office

  13. Paper? by nuclear305 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, I guess that's one way to ensure a bit more privacy...

    Your warez stash being raided? Eat the evidence!!

    I wonder how this new disc would deal with heat, though. Since most reading devices--and just being inside a closed space--produces heat. Heat and paper aren't necessarily a Good Thing.

    1. Re:Paper? by dhasenan · · Score: 1

      Paper burns above the boiling point for water, at almost twice that if I recall correctly, and if any part of your computer is above 370 Kelvins, you have Big Problems. So the removable media burning isn't a problem; the CPU would burn out long before that, and you'd have other things to worry about.

  14. darn by pvt_medic · · Score: 2, Funny

    i dont know if i can write small enough on the paper to beat the storage capacity. Can I at least use the backside?

    --
    30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
    Score:5, Troll
  15. Paper disk... by cexshun · · Score: 5, Funny

    A paper disk huh?

    Sounds like yet another Sony product to wipe our asses with...

    1. Re:Paper disk... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could make those AOL mailings slightly less useless.

    2. Re:Paper disk... by base_chakra · · Score: 1

      They'll still come in a spindle, but just in roll form. :)

      Watch my blog for instructions on making your own wall-mount!

    3. Re:Paper disk... by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      Just think of all the photographs you could keep on paper. Umm, hang on...

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  16. picture of disc by morcheeba · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here's a picture of the 25GB disc. It's a little big right now, but once they up the density, I'm sure you'll see it in more consumer products.

    1. Re:picture of disc by k98sven · · Score: 1

      Just to put the analogies into scale:
      A paper mill roll has about a kilometer of paper on it, and is usually about 4 meters wide.

      Storing 25Gb on it would mean over 5000 bits per square centimeter!

      So, even a piece of paper that big would still need to be a heck of a lot more dense than a punchcard!

    2. Re:picture of disc by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, nice analogy. That would be 70 dots per cm, or 180 dpi. It would look like this:

      .....
      :::::
      :::::

      (not to scale)

  17. The dinosaurs used these too by VoidPoint · · Score: 2, Funny

    Archeologists ten thousand years from now will wonder why the march of civilization ended in the twenty-first century. They really should be working on a STONE disk, don't you think?

  18. Coasters! by simpl3x · · Score: 1

    We can recycle our old disks, and the iminent AOL distributions, at bars!

    This would be very cool! The idea of dumps full of plastic disks is a bit disheartening.

    1. Re:Coasters! by SeinJunkie · · Score: 1

      I thought some other company developed CDs based on corn already to cut down on plastic waste.

  19. I just wonder... by lofoforabr · · Score: 1

    what will happen if someone, like my little brother, starts writting random things on a disc on the table like he does to some spare papers that are always there.

  20. Site is blocking by referrer! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's the full text, but you can see it by simply copying & pasting the URL into a new tab/browser window:

    TOPPAN and Sony Successfully Develop 25GB Paper Disc

    Tokyo, Japan, Apr 15, 2004 - (JCN Newswire) - TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD (TSE: 7911) and Sony Corporation (TSE: 6758) today announce the successful development of a 25GB paper disc based on Blu-ray Disc technology. Details will be announced at the Optical Data Storage 2004 conference to be held from April 18th to April 21st at Monterey, California.

    Using the disc-structure of Blu-ray Disc technology, the new paper disc has a total weight that is 51% paper. The two companies jointly began this optical disc project approximately a year ago. Blu-ray Disc is commonly known for allowing more than 2 hours of high-definition program recording.

    Hideaki Kawai, Managing Director, Head of Corporate R&D Division, TOPPAN CO., LTD commented: "Using printing technology on paper allows a high level of artistic label printing on the optical disc. Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc".

    Masanobu Yamamoto, Senior General Manager of Optical System Development Gp., Optical Disc Development Div., Sony Corporation said: "Since the Blu-ray Disc does not require laser light to travel through the substrate, we were able to develop this paper disc. By increasing the capacity of the disc we can decrease the amount of raw material used per unit of information."

    The worldwide production of optical discs is approximately 20 billion per year and optical discs are being adopted widely. The combination of paper material and printing technology is also expected to lead to a reduction in cost per disc and will expand usage.

    TOPPAN and Sony will continue development of the disc for practical use.

    About Sony Corporation

    Sony Corporation (TSE: 6758) is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading personal broadband entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $62 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003. For further information, please visit the Sony Corporation home page at: www.sony.net/

    About Toppan Printing Co Ltd.

    Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (TSE: 7911), since its founding in 1900, has played key roles in worldwide leadership of the printing industry, generated global acclaim and US$10 billion in revenues. Today, the Company's operations extend beyond conventional lines of printing and show strong performances in each field, including securities and cards, commercial printing, publications printing, packaging, industrial materials,and electronics. Especially in the electronics field, Toppan boasts the largest share of the world market for liquid-crystal color filters. For further information, please visit the Toppan Printing Co Ltd. home page at: www.toppan.co.jp/english/

    Contact:

    Sony Corporation
    Gerald Cavanagh
    Gerald.Cavanagh@jp.sony.com
    Tel: +81-3-5448-2200; Fax: +81-3-5448-3061

  21. Prior Art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Spirograph.

  22. Of course the question that comes to mind is... by Dutchmaan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    exactly how long will this paper last before it starts decomposing in some way?

    1. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by k98sven · · Score: 4, Informative

      exactly how long will this paper last before it starts decomposing in some way?

      Paper doesn't really decompose unless it's subjected to bacteria, air, water, dirt and stuff.
      High quality paper, such as wood-free paper doesn't even yellow much in sunlight.
      (Wood-free? You say.. that's paper which is 100% cellulose, with no lignin in it.. lignin is the stuff that separates trees from plants.. without lignin, it's not wood, hence 'wood-free' paper.)

      In a good environment (as one could expect for this kind of purpose) paper should have a far greater life-span than any hard drive I've ever owned.
      (and I've held on to some of mine for quite some time)

    2. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by ispepalocacoc · · Score: 0

      It doesn't really matter, you could just photocopy it and you'll have a backup in a few seconds.

      --
      I Love Alberta Beef
    3. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by rjelks · · Score: 1

      Just go to Kinkos and laminate it...it will last longer.

    4. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by RetroGeek · · Score: 3, Funny

      wood-free paper

      not-wet water

      My head is starting to hurt.

      --

      - - - - - - - - - - -
      I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
    5. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by nova20 · · Score: 1
      Paper doesn't really decompose unless it's subjected to bacteria, air, water, dirt and stuff.

      So what good is this disk if it has to be hermetically sealed away?

      /nova20

    6. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by Doubting+Thomas · · Score: 1

      I know a lot of people are joking about this issue, but it's really a significant advantage.

      We have important documents preserved which are multiple hundreds of years old. Meanwhile, we have digital archivists who are freaking out because the CD-Rs they burned their data onto are going to decompose within decades. Some places are worried that the amount of time needed just to transfer the data off the old media and onto new media (ie, next generation storage) may take longer than the shelf life of either the old media or the new media. It's even gotten sexy, ominous sounding names like The Digital Dark Ages, which has been discussed to death here some years ago.

      Optical scanning technology seems to be rather stable. We have people reading LPs with lasers, or with high-res flatbed scanners and digitizing them. In theory, someone could use similar techniques to scan any optical media we come up with, so long as the media is still intact. If push came to shove, someone could probably digitize a CDROM even if there were no compatible players left on the planet. Magnetic storage doesn't seem to be quite as lucky in this regard, so it seems to me that optical storage is really where it's at. I've often wondered if we shouldn't be looking at some paper-and-ink mechanism for archiving this sort of material for the long term. Of course, at the sort of data densities Sony is talking about, you'll probably run into data loss long before the integrity of the ink or the paper has degraded past the point one would be able to read text written on the same paper with the same ink. The feature size is what hides subtle damage to the surface. You'd have to rely pretty heavily on error correction techniques, which would impact your data density significantly.

      --
      Just because it works, doesn't mean it isn't broken.
    7. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by TClevenger · · Score: 1

      So what if the media is exposed to water, say from a flood or a soda spill?

    8. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by huchida · · Score: 1
      All I know is, we have manuscripts from the Middle Ages that are still intact today... But almost all the CD's I bought ten years ago (and took reasonably good care of, I should add) have deteriorated to the point of being useless.

      I have absolutely no faith in the CD or DVD as a archival medium. Bring on the paper discs, let's see what you got.

    9. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean.. like a real hard drive?

    10. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the 'paper' from the middle ages is a different KIND of paper. It was usually made from cotton. About the same sort of thing that US money is made out of. MOST wood pulp paper has a good shelf life of about 10-40 years depending on whats in it. Basicly acids in the paper used today eat the paper. It is why books turn yellow and have a funky smell after a few years.

      I have CD's I have used for YEARS and they still work. For some people the problem your having seems to be more pronounced. Usually they keep ALL of their cds in 'cd carriers'. BE VERY carfull with those. I have ruined quite a few CDs because of those handy things. Stoped using em and my scratched CD problem disapeared. Also remember you can scratch paper too. Or ooops took it outside while it was raining. Smeeeeear.... I forsee this sort of thing used in mass mailing things. Just what I wanted more AOL discs...

    11. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... by juhaz · · Score: 1

      If more of a case with data density, write some text on paper and it's perfectly readable even if it degrades a bit.

      Write kazillion über-small very precisely aligned dots on CD (or a paper disk) and have it degrade a big? KABOOM. Gone.

  23. How many paper discs would you need... by jea6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    How many paper discs would you need to fit the Library of Congress? Oh, nevermind.

    --

    sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
    1. Re:How many paper discs would you need... by ever+vigilant · · Score: 0

      It's spelled sarcasm, genius.

    2. Re:How many paper discs would you need... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You IDIOT. LOL.

    3. Re:How many paper discs would you need... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You just unknowingly demonstrated the point of the parent poster's sig. That's called irony.

    4. Re:How many paper discs would you need... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=chasm

  24. hmmm... punch cards anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    funny how technology is circular (yeah, ok poun intended)

  25. Not Impresed by MrRuslan · · Score: 1

    With the right technological and scientific aproch it is posible to strore data on anything including my packet of Duck sauce i didnt use at lunch...u can write data and read data from anything and to anything...this also dosent strike me to be more reliable than a floppy disk if not even less reliable...but for the hell of it this is kinda cool...

  26. slashdotted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    TOPPAN and Sony Successfully Develop 25GB Paper Disc

    Tokyo, Japan, Apr 15, 2004 - (JCN Newswire) - TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD (TSE: 7911) and Sony Corporation (TSE: 6758) today announce the successful development of a 25GB paper disc based on Blu-ray Disc technology. Details will be announced at the Optical Data Storage 2004 conference to be held from April 18th to April 21st at Monterey, California.

    Using the disc-structure of Blu-ray Disc technology, the new paper disc has a total weight that is 51% paper. The two companies jointly began this optical disc project approximately a year ago. Blu-ray Disc is commonly known for allowing more than 2 hours of high-definition program recording.

    Hideaki Kawai, Managing Director, Head of Corporate R&D Division, TOPPAN CO., LTD commented: "Using printing technology on paper allows a high level of artistic label printing on the optical disc. Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc".

    Masanobu Yamamoto, Senior General Manager of Optical System Development Gp., Optical Disc Development Div., Sony Corporation said: "Since the Blu-ray Disc does not require laser light to travel through the substrate, we were able to develop this paper disc. By increasing the capacity of the disc we can decrease the amount of raw material used per unit of information."

    The worldwide production of optical discs is approximately 20 billion per year and optical discs are being adopted widely. The combination of paper material and printing technology is also expected to lead to a reduction in cost per disc and will expand usage.

    TOPPAN and Sony will continue development of the disc for practical use.

    About Sony Corporation

    Sony Corporation (TSE: 6758) is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading personal broadband entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $62 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003. For further information, please visit the Sony Corporation home page at: www.sony.net/

    About Toppan Printing Co Ltd.

    Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (TSE: 7911), since its founding in 1900, has played key roles in worldwide leadership of the printing industry, generated global acclaim and US$10 billion in revenues. Today, the Company's operations extend beyond conventional lines of printing and show strong performances in each field, including securities and cards, commercial printing, publications printing, packaging, industrial materials,and electronics. Especially in the electronics field, Toppan boasts the largest share of the world market for liquid-crystal color filters. For further information, please visit the Toppan Printing Co Ltd. home page at: www.toppan.co.jp/english/

    Contact:
    Sony Corporation
    Gerald Cavanagh
    Gerald.Cavanagh@jp.sony.com
    Tel: +81-3-5448-2200; Fax: +81-3-5448-3061

    1. Re:slashdotted by camken · · Score: 5, Funny

      is it just me or does this bring a whole new meaning to 'burning a disc'?

      sorry for that, i couldn't resist.

      --
      Moo.
    2. Re:slashdotted by Gildor · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Where's your homework?" "My dog ate my hard drive..."

  27. Oh no by Anemomenous+Cowherd · · Score: 3, Funny

    But what if there are hanging chads? Is that bit a one or a zero?

  28. Interesting by somethinghollow · · Score: 3, Funny

    I talked about this with a friend, though not Blu-Ray. I think we figured it using a 300 DPI printer with 8.5 X 11 sheets of paper. A dot of black ink would be a 1. No dot would be a 0. It turns out that the capacity is pretty low. I'd post the math, but I'm pretty sure I'd mess it up somewhere.

    I think we decided it would get interesting if full color was used and different colors meant different binary combos.

    Anyway, good on them if the discs can be made for cheaper than current DVDs.

    1. Re:Interesting by Mateito · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Its not that hard.

      300 dpi is 300x300 dots per square inch.
      You have 8.5 x 11 square inches.
      That means you have 300x300x8.5x11 dots per page.

      What's your encoding mecanism?

      If you forget error detector and recovery, divide by 8 and you have byte. Divide by 1024 and you have real kilobytes, then by 1024 and you have real MB, (but given that we are trying to sell thing scheme, divide it by 1,000 and 1,000,000 respectively to give Marketing Bytes).

      Given the low quality of the media, I'd be inclined to use 10bit bytes to allow double bit error detection and single bit error recovery. This also makes the maths easier.

      So you end up with 300x300/10 = 9000 bytes = 9k per square inch, and 840k per page. Make a double sided version and yo have nearly 1.7MB.

    2. Re:Interesting by Datasage · · Score: 1

      I did a quick calculation... assuming no margins you would be able to fit just under one MB per page.

      dots per sq in 300x300=90000
      total area 8x11.5=92 sq inches
      Total dots per page 8280000
      in bytes = 1035000
      in kbytes =1010.74

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    3. Re:Interesting by zeroprime · · Score: 1

      However, if you were to use an 8bit (or higher) color scheme instead of black and white each pixel could be a single byte (or more). Used something like this in a primitive encryption idea I had. Convert any file to a jpg that made it look like a fractal and still had the ability to revert it.

      --
      Hey! come on! try dividing it by anything!
    4. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't forget to cut a notch on the left side of the paper so that it'll know to use the second side...

    5. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      aahhhh, +5 nostalgic

    6. Re:Interesting by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but pixel density increases increase storage capacity exponentially. Consumer laser printers are up to 1200dpi right now. That's 1200x1200/10 = 140k/square inch. Consumer grade photo printers are already up to 4800dpi, or 2.3mb/square inch. A printing device optimised for quality, and not low cost could easily produce signifigantly higher quality output. Look at presses for commercial DVDs.

      44,000dpi would be plenty for this type of application.

    7. Re:Interesting by bfree · · Score: 4, Informative

      And if you go for something a bit snazzier printer wise like the Epson Color Proofer 7600 you get:

      2880 dpi is 2880x2880 dots per sqaure inch
      You have 8.5 x 11 square inches (or pi * 2^2 for a cd sized area)
      You have 7 individual colors so lets count a dot for each, and lets go with no error correction (just to get a maximum conceivable).
      You end up with 14M / square inch, a big improvement over 9k!
      That would give you 1.3G / double sided page, or 182M / double sided cd size.

      So Sony's tech here is nearly as big a leap up again as from 300x300dpi@1bit to 2880x2880dpi@7bit! It's a long way from printing quality (forget the fact that you would need to be incredibly redundant to make it any use, forget 10 bit bytes, i'd be thinking 64 bit bytes if it's meant to be lossless storage on the scheme I outlined). Might be fun to try and print out and scan back in say a knoppix cd in as few pages as possible, "what you mean you don't have a cd drive ... you have a scanner?"

      --

      Never underestimate the dark side of the Source

    8. Re:Interesting by gelzi · · Score: 1

      In the old days, I remember that there was actually a german computer magazine (64'er) which used to print small basic programs for the Commodore 64 in exactly such a way. At that time the only affordable scanners were handheld one, so you needed several passes to generate the data contained in a page. I wonder, if the new drives are backward compaible to that.

    9. Re:Interesting by Mateito · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > Might be fun to try and print out and scan back in say a knoppix cd in as
      > few pages as possible, "what you mean you don't
      have a cd drive ... you have a scanner?"

      In which case, the limitation isn't the write head, its the read head. So where are scanners now, 1200x600 last time I looked. Which puts us around 15MB for a double sided page.

      So although it may be a little difficult to put out a Knoppix CD just yet, but that is easily more than enough for a linux distribution.

      Maybe for secure applications? IDS, Firewall etc.

      Only problem is that none of my computers have the scanner as a boota option.

      Something tells me that this still isn't the most efficient way to use paper to distribute porn tho.

    10. Re:Interesting by kernelfoobar · · Score: 1

      hmmm, so the maximum theoritical bit/dot density is:
      (4800 dpi x 4800 dpi x 8 in x 11.5 in ) / (1ki x 1 ki 1 ki) ~= 2 Gi per page

      Much closer!

      --
      Here we go again!
    11. Re:Interesting by gorgon · · Score: 2, Informative
      Yeah, but pixel density increases increase storage capacity exponentially.
      I hate to get pendantic on you, but storage does not increase exponentially. It increases quadratically. Storage goes as (dpi)^2, not e^(dpi).
      --

      And I'd be a Libertarian, if they weren't all a bunch of tax-dodging professional whiners.
      Berke Breathed
    12. Re:Interesting by Quixadhal · · Score: 1

      > So you end up with 300x300/10 = 9000 bytes = 9k
      > per square inch, and 840k per page. Make a double
      > sided version and yo have nearly 1.7MB.

      Interesting.... since I know you can easily fold a sheet of paper up to be smaller than a floppy disk, and my laser printer claims to be 1200dpi non-enhanced.... and my scanner also claims to be 1200dpi non-enhanced... that means printing and scanning has higher storage density AND throughput than a floppy disk.

    13. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can read and write a floppy faster than you can print and scan a piece of paper.

    14. Re:Interesting by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      Please don't tell me that anyone around here actually takes printer manufacturer's specs seriously?

      Come on - my inkjet at home probably has some ungodly spec like 1200x600 dpi, but I'd be happy if every letter wasn't consistently smudged.

      I'd believe in a laser printer which advertises 600dpi. And in an inject that advertises maybe 300.

      I challenge any inkjet manufacturer to print a 300dpi 2D barcode with no error checking or redundnacy and have it be capable of being read back without error. It just doesn't happen...

      That's like scanners which claim 4800 DPI of resolution. Usually it means the scanner scans at 600 DPI and then scales the bitmap up to 4800DPI and is fancy enough to use antialiasing and gradients to not make it look like fatbits on an old version of Mac Paint...

      Think about it - according to some manufacturer's specs, you can cut a CD out of a piece of paper and have it hold about a third as much as a real CD (as calculated elsewhere in this thread). Does anyone really take this seriously?

    15. Re:Interesting by jafuser · · Score: 1

      Xerox is already way ahead of ya... =)

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    16. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not what my laser printer and usb2 scanner claim.

    17. Re:Interesting by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

      840k per page. Make a double sided version and yo have nearly 1.7MB.

      Wow, you can fit as much data on a sheet of 8.5x11" paper as you can on a 15-year-old 3.5x3.5" floppy disk! Sign me up!

    18. Re:Interesting by Mateito · · Score: 1

      > Wow, you can fit as much data on a sheet of 8.5x11" paper
      > as you can on a 15-year-old 3.5x3.5" floppy disk!

      Yeah.. but paper predates floppy disks by a good 4000 years.

      (o 4096 years for the Metric Pedant).

    19. Re:Interesting by mdielmann · · Score: 1

      Add FAT structure, and you have a 1.2MB floppy rectangle. Take 1 inch off the top, and you can have floppy sheets that you could put in a binder, while still holding about 1MB. Take 1000 of those, put them in a (huge) binder, and when you throw "the book" at your marketing type, he'll be in no shape to say, "whew, I'm glad there weren't 24 more pages in there..."

      --
      Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
    20. Re:Interesting by radio.cgt · · Score: 1

      it has been done before. Intacta.code i heard about this a couple of years ago. It doesn't seem that much has been done since thought..

    21. Re:Interesting by sshir · · Score: 1

      Actually real amount of information is much lower.

      Printers tend to cheat in certain situations - they will reproduce shade more or less right but will put pixels in different places.

      There some limitations on what printers can do (lasers and inks alike.)

      I think google search would be "error diffusion"

    22. Re:Interesting by dasmegabyte · · Score: 2, Informative

      Eh -- problem here is that 7 colour != 7 bit, because if you add black to any of them you still have black. 7 colours is more like 3 bit, e.g. there are 8 distinct and detectable values: black, cyan, magenta, yellow, blue, red, green and white.

      This also discounts bleed, cueing and error correction.

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
    23. Re:Interesting by digital+bath · · Score: 1

      Kinda makes you wonder just how much information is stored in, say, a 4x6 photograph. What is the resolution and color depth on proffesionally printed photographs?

      --
      find / -name "*.sig" | xargs rm
    24. Re:Interesting by N1KO · · Score: 1

      It doesn't have to be stored in binary, get the drive to convert it when the OS requests some data.

    25. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortuantly scanners are NOT up to snuf to get the data back. You get TONS of halo effect. 1 black dot. Smallest you can make it and around it you will see a cyan halo. So you have to make the dots futher apart or else you get bleed over.

      ALso MOST 1200dpi printers are NOT. They are 400 or 600 dpi and they are a bit 'sloppy' with head/color placment. So it looks like 1200dpi.

      Also the paper/ink you use can have a interesting effect. Ink is a liquid it will tend to soak along the grain of the paper. So you have to be carfull on what paper you print and what ink you use.

      Now all this I *KNOW* as I tried to make a decent product of this. I could not get the cost down where it was cheaper than CD or floopy. Ink/Hardware/paper/resolution. It because quite apparent that it was not worth it.

      You could also use color in there to 'up' the bit count per pixel as it were. 4-8 colors per pixel depending on the printer and ink. But then I had to space things out to get more scaners to 'like' the pixels. I had to space it out more to get more printers to accept the program as it were. Then I had to take into account that some printers SAY they are 1200 dpi when in reality they are 400dpi. You can not really tell till you put it under a magnifying glass or scan it with a DECENT scanner.

      I think when it was all said and done. I ended up with like 1-2 meg per sheet. I can buy a CD that holds 700 MEG and its in a smaller area! It just was not competitive enough with CD's for me to even finish coding the bitmap readers.

      So 1 CD holds ~600 meg. Lets say you can get 1MB on a sheet. Now you need 600 sheets of paper to make up that one thing. This is ok when you have data that only needs 1-2 meg. But for anything over it becomes a PAIN to manage. Have you ever installed OS/2 from flooppy? How about win95? And thats *JUST* (HA) about 50 floopies. Also 600 sheets of paper is about an inch high. Would you want to 'feed' the scanner? For one offs it works great. For anything else...

      Another problem is MOST printers really do not like printing outside of certian bounds. This printer can print up to 1/8th of an inch from the boarder yet this one can print 1/32nd from the boarder. Oh and its different on EACH of the edges.

      It is a neat idea but thats all. You probably could make a market for it. But for me I thought I wanted it till I realized I was just reinventing the wheel.

    26. Re:Interesting by Tiberius_Fel · · Score: 1

      This reminds me. Somebody mentioned to me long long ago that he'd like to know if it would be possible to get a buffer overflow on an OCR engine with some code written on the page.

      --
      Join the Empire! http://www.empirereborn.net/
    27. Re:Interesting by LnxAddct · · Score: 1

      Actually most printers claim resolutions that they can't physically achieve. They typically use software to encode the image in such a way that the human eye interprets it as being many times the resolution of what it actually is. I've dealt with various software and code that is used in such applications. And also something that noone seems to be taking into account is that dots that are very close together will blend, even if its just slightly. You would need very very highly refined paper to achieve what people here are talking about, unless you used really good error detection. Its a cool idea anyway and there are companies that do this, unfortunately I can't recall the name of the one company that I know does this, and can encrypt it too.
      Regards,
      Steve

    28. Re:Interesting by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      Right. Oops.

    29. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some years back, several of the computer magazines had a bar-code format in which they could distribute source code for the various listings they provided. It was nowhere near the resolution you're suggesting here (I would guess it was a few hundred to a few thousand bytes per page) but then it could be read by a hand scanner.

    30. Re:Interesting by o'reor · · Score: 1
      So you end up with [...] 840k per page. Make a double sided version and yo have nearly 1.7MB.

      You mean 840k for Amiga-formatted paper. PC-formatted paper would only reach 720k (1.44MB double-sided).

      Oh, wait...

      --
      In Soviet Russia, our new overlords are belong to all your base.
    31. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow! Thanks, that's a great business idea! I bet we could get book publishers to invest lots of money on a start-up that develops "digital rights management" technology for books... by creating buffer overflow exploits for all known OCR software. Then the companies could lobby Congress to make it illegal for the OCR software providers to fix the buffer overflow bugs... sounds like a plan.

  29. Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Imagine what this could do for the rental business. Now, I'm not about to get rid of my DVDs, and I hope they don't stop selling them: I rather like "owning" a movie I can play whenever Iike.

    But getting on an airplane, and instead of "renting" a movie, I just but the cheap $2.00 one. This is what DiVX could have been without the annoying DRM and phone calling back method.

    If I want to try out a game, such as "Jak and Daxter 14: Goatees for Everybody", I could get the cheap $5 full version paper demo, try it out, and when the disk finally breaks down say "Well, I can either buy another $5 version and finish the game, or pay $30 for the full version".

    Either way, Sony doesn't come across looking evil, and I get what I want.

  30. RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Paper?

    Does this mean our office Xerox is a illegal device?

  31. damn.....thx alot...now I can't... by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

    thx alot...now I can't use toilet paper....gotta find some leaves from now on.

    1. Re:damn.....thx alot...now I can't... by prescot6 · · Score: 1

      thx alot...now I can't use toilet paper....gotta find some leaves from now on.

      I don't see how this will affect your toilet paper usage. Sony did not announce that all paper will now be used for data storage. At least I hope not, I didn't exactly RTFA...

    2. Re:damn.....thx alot...now I can't... by MoFoQ · · Score: 1

      'twas sarcasm/a funny.

  32. Somebody has to say it... by mykepredko · · Score: 4, Funny

    From the article:

    The worldwide production of optical discs is approximately 20 billion per year and optical discs are being adopted widely.

    What is it minus AOL?

    Extending this thread, it's too bad Sony didn't work on this with P The "Bounty" version of the AOL disk could pre-emptively clean up those annoying coffee drips and the "Charmin" version, well the AOL disks would finally actually be useful.

    myke

    1. Re:Somebody has to say it... by mdmarkus · · Score: 1
      The worldwide production of optical discs is approximately 20 billion per year and optical discs are being adopted widely.

      What is it minus AOL?

      19 billion. No lie, AOL intends to make 1 billion AOL 9.0 CDs available.

    2. Re:Somebody has to say it... by donaggie03 · · Score: 1

      Does that sentence make any sense at all? If so, I must be reading it wrong.

      --
      Three days from now?? Thats tomorrow!! ~Peter Griffin
    3. Re:Somebody has to say it... by Inuchance · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? AOL discs ARE useful! I carry one around with me almost everywhere, in case I need a portable mirror or something.

      Plus, some of these AOL premium CDs I have came in nice little paper cases, which I can reuse for blank CDs that were bought in bulk on a spool.

    4. Re:Somebody has to say it... by MrNonchalant · · Score: 1

      well the AOL disks would finally actually be useful.

      One word: Frisbee.

  33. RPS! by bludstone · · Score: 5, Funny

    Awesome! One third of the way there.

    Now all we need is a Rock based disk and a Scissors based disk. Then have them fight it out for world dominance.

    "good old rock, nothing beats rock!"

    --

    no .sig
    1. Re:RPS! by wed128 · · Score: 3, Funny

      i think i heard of an early rock-based disk prototype. i think it was called the "rosetta stone"...strange stuff

    2. Re:RPS! by pulse2600 · · Score: 1

      dude...paper beats rock...

    3. Re:RPS! by Jagasian · · Score: 1

      He was making a Simpsons reference, I think.

    4. Re:RPS! by Knight2K · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough, there is a project doing that.

      The Rosetta Project Technology page

      They are apparently trying to produce a modern Rosetta stone of contemporary languages that will be microetched into a disk of nickel. Check out the main page.

      I also thought there was another site somewhere about other products that were basically CD's etched in stone, but can't seem to find it now.

      --
      ======
      In X-Windows the client serves YOU!
    5. Re:RPS! by SB5 · · Score: 1

      Shame on you, Shame on you. You confused the Simpsons with Monty Python. Your punishment shall be, THE SPAINISH INQUISITION. /nobody expects the SPAINISH INQUISTION

      --
      If what you are reading sounds funny, or sarcastic, lame, or stupid
      it is because it is supposed to be. just laugh
  34. Commodore 1541 Disk Drive by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm reminded of the old Commodore 1541 5.25" floppy disk drive, that could format a paper plate without errors.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:Commodore 1541 Disk Drive by peragrin · · Score: 1

      As A. Coward asked It sounds funny, but possible give the nature of the old stuff. Can you elaborate a bit????

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re:Commodore 1541 Disk Drive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, I use my C-1541 and paper plates to backup my HD, you insensitive clod!

    3. Re:Commodore 1541 Disk Drive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's BSing you. The 1541 was perhaps the most reliable, multi-functional drive ever made (you can make music with it, for Pete's sake!), but it doesn't record to paper plates. Perhaps you could clean the heads with one, but I never tried it, and am not going to break the stuff out just to break my drive.

  35. 49% Not paper... by Lord+Haha · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Using the disc-structure of Blu-ray Disc technology, the new paper disc has a total weight that is 51% paper"

    Its kinda like saying WinBlows is better then Linux, but after reading the fine print: "the systems were judged by 100 people, 51 being microsoft employees..."

    Yes its paper under the text books (congrats on pulling it off) but then again its also 49% not paper, probably good old plastics...

    1. Re:49% Not paper... by javatips · · Score: 1

      And they talk about cutting the disk to destroy it... Not buring it (which would be far more effective)... Maybe because the other 49% of material would release toxic stuff when buring.

  36. YES!! Now I can... by orion41us · · Score: 2, Funny

    .. accessorize my Paper PC (ZDNet announcment)

  37. Paper hmm? Let's see by Syncdata · · Score: 1

    John gets to work, and first thing, verifies the data backup from last night.
    John inserts the paper disk into his 32x CDrom, waits for it to spin up, then promptly evacuates the building when his machine erupts in flames.

    --
    "Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
  38. Paper, Scissors... err by Mateito · · Score: 5, Funny

    >since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily,

    Yep. Scissors cut paper disc, paper disc cuts fingers, fingers bleed on scissors, causing them to rust.

  39. No pun by thammoud · · Score: 1

    size is great but do Blue ray drives perform ?

  40. Longevity? by StandardCell · · Score: 1

    How long is the data on these discs supposed to last? Data retention on writeable CDs and DVDs is a big issue.

  41. Coasters... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So if the burn doesn't work, we can still call them coasters, right?

    1. Re:Coasters... by ThePlague · · Score: 0

      They would be appropriately called "doilies"

  42. Dilbert, always ahead of the curve by bizpile · · Score: 5, Funny

    So Dilbert was right, smaller fonts can save on disk space.

    1. Re:Dilbert, always ahead of the curve by glenebob · · Score: 1

      Yeah and the NSA is gonna love this. Invisible ink is cheap!

  43. Disk management by consolidatedbord · · Score: 2, Funny

    This will certainly make partitioning much easier being able to use scissors instead of software. Partitioning on the hardware level. Imagine that. ;-)

    --
    while true ; do echo this is my sig; done
  44. Nope, it is not /.ed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    They're merely blocking the referrer.

  45. NO! Don't throw away that paper! by gatesh8r · · Score: 1

    I'm saving that because it's my backups!

    --
    Karma whorin' since 1999
  46. Porn by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    This gives new meaning to getting the pages of your porno stuck together.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  47. Disc Burning by athakur999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So will we still call them CD burners? It'll be like Farenheit 451. CD burners will be used to destroy data and some of us will remember when CD burners actually wrote data.

    --
    "People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
    1. Re:Disc Burning by pragma_x · · Score: 1

      However, it is really a double-edged sword.

      Disc burning (in this sense) would be really great for those last minute visits from the FBI.

    2. Re:Disc Burning by peragrin · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually Disc burning would be useful for those last minute FBI raids. Jus throw everything in the fireplace, Let the FBI look around out back, and dumb the data into the fireplace. Won't have to worry about possible recovery either.

      Then again if your place burns down you still won't be able to recover the data.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    3. Re:Disc Burning by Entropy2016 · · Score: 1

      It's worth noting that fireplaces are usually pretty good at removing information from CDs, DVDs, hard drives, floppy disks, zip disks, flash memory cards, credit cards, and just about any device sophisticated enough to hold lots of data.

      Besides, evidence of chard paper-disk ash in the fireplace would just make you look suspicious and they'd add charges for to destroying evidence.

      Quick CD destruction is best done by a microwave. For hard disks, you're much better off getting an electromagnet and doing to it what Sarah Conner should have done to the Terminator's head.

      I would prefer for high capacity storage devices to be very difficult to wipe out so that I don't accidentally lose data. Also, I don't like the idea of criminals being able to wipe out evidence of their crimes on my society.

    4. Re:Disc Burning by IvoryRing · · Score: 2, Informative
      I can't say much about the best way to destroy CD-R or CD-RWs, but for hard drives you are wrong.

      The smaller (physically) and the bigger (data capacity) that magnetic media gets, the harder it is to destroy (by magnetic field).

      Vastly simplified (and too heavily parenthesized) explaination follows: All things being equal, if you pack bits closer together on a magnentic substrate they are more likely to smear into each other causing data loss. To combat that, when increasing bit density, you need to raise the strength of (applied) field required to cause a change in (media) field orientation. This is done primarily by changing the chemistry of the media. In order to overcome this increased resistance to change, you generally will need to either increase field strength in the write head (in most cases this means making the head more massive - as generally you've already used the strongest [field strength to mass ratio] design you can find) -- OR moving the head closer to the media (the usual solution - often this also means making the head smaller {which by the way, makes it more robust in terms of shock resistance not less, contrary to common assumption}).

      What all this means is that you generally can't afford to buy an electromagnet capable of erasing a laptop hard drive. You would likely be looking at an industrial power feed from the electric company. In short, a chipper/shredder ment to be fed hard drives is a much cheaper/easer way to do it.

      Why do I know about any of this? When we switched from 1600dpi to 6250dpi reel-to-reel tapes for backup, we found that our handheld "bulk tape eraser" wasn't doing anything any more - so I did some reading on why. Now, the hard drive in my laptop isn't much special (Toshiba MK4018GAS) - Toshiba's tech spec for this (pg 11 under General Description) lists a density of 35.1Gbit per square inch. Our reel-to-reel tapes had density listed as a liner spec, not area, so if I take the square root of the drive density -- coming out with a guess of ~187K dpi linear density (this is not quite the right way to go about it, but will do for now). As you can see - roughly a hundred-fold density increase over where the threshold of "bulk tape eraser" will do you much good. I do not know the formulas to calculate the field strength you need to erase at that density - hence the actual size of the electromagnet you would need.

    5. Re:Disc Burning by Nugbolz · · Score: 1

      MI3: ... this message will self-destruct in 5 seconds... 4... 3... 2... 1....... ????!!!! Damn it! This is a PLASTIC disc!!!

      --
      ((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10))
  48. Wonder if .. by drizst+'n+drat · · Score: 1

    the old mantra from the days of holerith cards ... Do not fold, spindle, or mutalate still apply?

  49. Paper air planes. by demonic-halo · · Score: 5, Funny

    If they can solve the problem of data loss from folding a disk. (I guess it can be done using massive redundancy).

    We can send share data by throwing paper air planes at each other.

    How cool is that?

    1. Re:Paper air planes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a fleet of paper airplanes.

    2. Re:Paper air planes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd say about as cool as sending data via high-bandwidth carrier pigeon...

    3. Re:Paper air planes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you fold the paper when it is already in a frisbee form?

    4. Re:Paper air planes. by qkw · · Score: 0

      sure, there's latency issues, but just think about the bandwidth

      we can tie a bunch of them around a hmoing pigeon's foot, break the world data transfer record

      --
      ---- Design. Invent. Cheese.
    5. Re:Paper air planes. by PhotoGuy · · Score: 1

      All you need is one extra parity sheet in your stack, for RAID 5 redundancy. (Pssst, can you loan me a sheet, I need a hot spare.)

      --
      Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
    6. Re:Paper air planes. by SeregonSandgrain · · Score: 0

      I say that has about as much change at becoming popular as a one legged guy at an ass-kicking contest, but that's just my opinion...

      --
      My User Agent: "Where is the pr0n?"
  50. Could be... by ackthpt · · Score: 1
    Seems like they would be very easy to damage.

    Just have to use that eraser carfully.

    Why in Monterey... The Sea Otter is going on this week, and Sony Playstation is a co-sponsor, but I didn't think Sony had much of a presence around here. I wonder if I could noodle on over and sit in on this...

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  51. They finally find by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1
    a way to gzip the entire forest lying in the Library of Congress building.

    --
    Achille Talon
    Hop!
  52. A picture... by stm2 · · Score: 1

    How to store computer data on paper
    What's next? The return of mainframes?

    --
    DNA in your Linux: DNALinux
  53. Just what we needed... by slyckshoes · · Score: 1

    A medium with the longevity of paper and the price of computer hardware. I bet they tought long and hard on how to get the best of both worlds.

  54. Re-rewiting by rf0 · · Score: 1

    If you get it wrong can you jsut use an earser to format the disk?

    Rus

  55. That's the point. by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 1

    OK, 25GB isn't quite DVD size, but it's enough to put a movie on. So think disposable DVDs. Or non-return rental DVDs. Or "environmentally friendly" consumer DVDs if you prefer, that just happen to wear out so you can buy a new one every year or so...

    --
    Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
    1. Re:That's the point. by Holi · · Score: 1

      Ummm You're right its BIGGER. a dual side dual layer DVD will only hold (correct me if I am wrong) approx. 17 GB. So yeah I think it is easy to say this will hold any movie currently out there.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:That's the point. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      i think you have your units mixed up.

      true 25GB isn't enought space for the LoTR super-extended-extra-long-aren't-you-glad-you can-pause-it-to-go-to-the-bathroom edition

      but a normal DVD hold 7.9GB and a DVD-R holds 4.7GB, some DVDs hold up to 15GBs

      http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/products/jump/ 0, 24331,2419968,00.html

    3. Re:That's the point. by fugspit · · Score: 0
      25GB isn't quite DVD size

      Erm, dual layer DVDs are about 9GB which means you could fit 3 feature length movies on one of these discs.

      The article didn't mention it but I assume, given the opaque nature of paper, the discs must be double sided. Which means you would have to flip them over or have a device with 2 read heads. Either way thats less convenient than using clear plastic discs.

    4. Re:That's the point. by fugspit · · Score: 0
      a dual side dual layer DVD will only hold (correct me if I am wrong) approx. 17 GB

      You're wrong. You can have dual layer or you can have dual sided you can't have both. Nine point something GB is the most you can store on a standard dvd

    5. Re:That's the point. by fugspit · · Score: 0
      Mea culpa

      I was wrong
      You are completely correct

      DVD-18 discs (dual layer & dual sided) are available although rare and expensive.

      I still say that using clear plastic with both layers on the same side offers a clear advantage over opaque discs that must be flipped

    6. Re:That's the point. by Holi · · Score: 1

      Ummm what about the DVD-18 format.
      DVD-18

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    7. Re:That's the point. by Everlasting+God · · Score: 1

      Rare and expensive eh? Funny, Tower Reccords had a whole rack of Ben-Hur on dual sided dual layered dvds for the low low price of $19.95.

    8. Re:That's the point. by Daemonik · · Score: 2, Informative
      The article didn't mention it but I assume, given the opaque nature of paper, the discs must be double sided. Which means you would have to flip them over or have a device with 2 read heads. Either way thats less convenient than using clear plastic discs.

      Actually the Blu-Ray discs hold 25GB in a single sided, single layer medium. That's one of the reasons that they can use a paper disc, the laser beam doesn't have to travel beyond the initial recording medium to a second layer.
    9. Re:That's the point. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the hell are you smoking. Last time I checked, 25 gigs was larger than 4.7. Jesus Christ, you probably think CD-Rs hold 6 gigs.

  56. Would it be a DCMA violation... by steevo.com · · Score: 2, Funny
    Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc

    ...to introduce a rock to break the scissors?

  57. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by svallarian · · Score: 2, Funny

    You know you've been on slashdot too long when you ready that game title and think

    "oooh. that's nasty"

    oh wait, goaTEES.

    Steven V.

    --
    I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
  58. This will revolutanize the porn industry.. by utarif · · Score: 1

    again!

    1. Re:This will revolutanize the porn industry.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, except this time, when you're done watching, you can use the disk to clean up.

  59. Well, by kabocox · · Score: 1

    Now, we know what the media format for the PS3 will be.

  60. Finally by lobsterGun · · Score: 4, Funny


    Now my new set of AOL coasters will be absorbant!

  61. Math: less than a meg by Tony · · Score: 1

    The math is pretty easy: 300 bits per inch * 300 bits per inch is 90,000 bits per square inch, or 10,000 parity bytes per square inch. So, more-or-less, 10k per square inch.

    8.5in * 11in = 93.5 in^2. That's 935k. Less than a meg.

    --
    Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
  62. This would be perfect for storing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    My Fahrenheit 451 divx.

  63. Capacity is expected to double... by Radical+Rad · · Score: 4, Funny

    after Sony releases the new College-ruled version.

  64. Backup... by ElNeo · · Score: 2, Funny

    The office toilet is always out of paper - now Sony has finaly provided a "backup"...

    Do you think it will come in extra soft? 3 layers?

  65. Wow! We've come so far! by ScottGant · · Score: 5, Funny

    We can now put information down on paper!!!

    Just think of what we can do now!

    You could like....put a whole book or something on it!

    Nah...that'll never work.

    --

    "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    1. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Alexis+Brooke · · Score: 3, Funny

      Great... now when someone wants me to copy something for them, I'm gonna have to ask, "Paper or plastic?"

      --
      This is a special excite .sig
      This
    2. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Bob+McCown · · Score: 1

      And pirating! Think of the p2p network we could build...we could call them....Fax machines!

    3. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by sckeener · · Score: 1

      We can now put information down on paper!!!
      Just think of what we can do now!
      You could like....put a whole book or something on it!


      If you think your eye sight is bad now....

      or we could have a new geek license where they make you read the bottom line without your glasses.

      --
      "Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
    4. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Surt · · Score: 4, Funny

      The nice thing with this sony paper is that you could put every book ever written on it.

      --
      "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    5. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by gmby · · Score: 1

      Might come in hand in the bathroom?

      --
      I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
    6. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by darkonc · · Score: 1

      I can't wait for the first person who tries to photocopy one and then wonders why it doesn't work.
      ... But, it was a color photocopier!
      sigh.

      --
      Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
    7. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by slagish666 · · Score: 1
      We can now put information down on paper!!! Just think of what we can do now! You could like....put a whole book or something on it!

      A notepad would work as well, but the read/write times suck.

      --
      "Consider the lillies of the goddamn field."
    8. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Talking about books.

      The anime-fans amoung you must've made the connection to the "Read or Die - TV" serie by now.

    9. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need any special paper for that. Just a lot.

    10. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by eclectro · · Score: 2, Interesting

      We can now put information down on paper!!!

      Just think of what we can do now!


      Be careful at what you laugh at.

      Data (other than print) has been stored on paper via bar codes. Some early programmable calculators (notably hp) used this to store programs.

      Then came the SoftStrip, a kind of 2d barcode that could store higher densities of data. It was used primarily by magazines in the late eighties to print programs that you could scan into your computer (most likely an apple II) rather than laboriously typing them in, which was fraught with errors. A couple of magazines that this appeared in was Nibble and Byte.

      But this was not economical for large programs (as it competed with advertising space), and it never achieved widespread popularity.

      But the idea was just too clever to die, and other applications of this idea have appeared along with imitators.

      The most readily available example of this idea being used is postage printing, that seems to now be widespread.

      This technology will always be cheaper than RFIDs, magnetic strips, and smartcards.

      As an aside, the benefit of this paper disc that Sony invented is going to be the cost of the media. This is the primary reason Dataplay discs were not able to get off the ground. With the media being inexpensive and a company like Sony to boost it in their applications, I suspect that this could become popular.

      One last thing - don't forget that the first technique of storing data on paper other than writing and pictures would be the thumbprint.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    11. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by N1KO · · Score: 1

      Or a very large sheet of paper.

    12. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by owlstead · · Score: 1

      Naah. Paper would not hold that much, unless you put it flat on your desk. And then your desk would go. Besides that, it would be a very hard job finding every book ever written. But if you wan't to try, I've got a few old ones that you can have.

    13. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by pyrote · · Score: 1

      Might come in hand in the bathroom?
      "hand"?

      What the hell are you doing in there anyway?

      Is that a pr0n disk you have there?

      --
      THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!!!! eventually.
    14. Re:Wow! We've come so far! by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

      See this is funny because wherever you come from, your supermarket actually gives you the choice. If they gave this choice to Australians, I would say "paper." However, they force us to accept plastic.

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  66. Environmentally friendly? by machead526 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So is this good or bad for the environment? Can these disks be recycled? Can they be made from recycled paper? Do they contribute less to landfills, or do they result in more trees getting chopped?

  67. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by 74nova · · Score: 1
    Well, I can either buy another $5 version and finish the game, or pay $30 for the full version
    or use the version you burned for yourself on a dvd with software you will surely be able to get from gamecopyworld.com no later than a week after this technology is released
    --
    use your turn signal! you people act like it's divulging information to the enemy
  68. Why? by bshroyer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm honestly having trouble coming up with a practical application for this. I RTFA and learned (I think) that they're using "DVD-like" technology, but that the substrate is (51% by weight) paper, not acrylic and aluminum. The advantage? "It's easier to cut with scissors," states the article.

    What possible benefit does this present. Someone help me out.

    --
    The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
  69. Great, another way AOL can annoy us. by demonic-halo · · Score: 1

    If someone had a way to benefit from this,

    It's AOL.

  70. And it has networking builtin... by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

    just fold it properly and throw it next door...

    --
    Achille Talon
    Hop!
  71. The next phase: The Data Pizza by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "(AP) As part of its future plans. Sony will find a way to encode data on a fresh Supreme "Pizza! Pizza! from Little Ceasars. This is expected to appease the DRM crowd as purchasers of these sauce-covered discs will be tempted to eat the media before they have a chance to consider copying it."

  72. A Smoke'n Hard Drive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My hard drive is on fire! Literally!

  73. They should use flash paper.. by JayPee · · Score: 1

    Then, if you get raided by "the man" your can simply ignite them like a magician. *POOF* No more incriminating evidence!

  74. Will they call the 50GB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Double-wide?

    1. Re:Will they call the 50GB by JessLeah · · Score: 4, Funny

      No. They'll call it "two-ply".

    2. Re:Will they call the 50GB by dasmegabyte · · Score: 1

      Brings new meaning to the phrase "notebook computer?"

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
  75. No need for bathroom pause by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Funny

    true 25GB isn't enought space for the LoTR super-extended-extra-long-aren't-you-glad-you can-pause-it-to-go-to-the-bathroom edition

    There is no need to get up to go; as the movie is printed on its own toilet paper.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:No need for bathroom pause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Now people can finally say "Your software is so buggy I wouldn't wipe my own ass with it."

  76. Easy to copy? by jeephistorian · · Score: 1, Interesting

    So I could make copies at Kinkos?

    Fritz
    _______

    --
    Huh?
  77. Interesting-Books and Barcodes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Data storage on paper is nothing. They're called books. but seriously there was in the 80's a magazine that published it's programs in the form of a bar code.

  78. Cheech and Chong "Up in Smoke" by AtariAmarok · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then, if you get raided by "the man" your can simply ignite them like a magician. *POOF* No more incriminating evidence!

    You mean.... your illicit copy of "Cheech and Chong Up in Smoke"... up in smoke?

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  79. Forgot? by I'm+a+racist. · · Score: 2, Informative

    They tried stuff like this, it sucked.

    Note, that's not to be confused with the DivX standard used by those nasty "pirates". There are other types of disposable DVDs floating around. The main one that comes to mind now is the one that oxidizes when you open the package.

    Anyway, it especially pissed off the Slashdot crowd.

    --


    Down with Saudi Arabia!!!
    1. Re:Forgot? by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      Yea, but paper disposes of much easier. But I have to admit its the same, but there are some novel good things that could be on paper, demos and the such, but I digress.

    2. Re:Forgot? by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      I have to slightly content with the notion that piracy is the main use of DivX, its quite a good video format. I'm suprised you don't see it used more often.

    3. Re:Forgot? by Vellmont · · Score: 1

      The disposable DVDs sucked because they were too expensive. Who wants to pay $10 for a limited time use DVD when you can rent one for $3? If they could get the price down to $4 I think you've got a great idea. I hate returning videos, and would probbably pay an extra $1 to not have to return the thing.

      --
      AccountKiller
  80. Please elaborate. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google's not fessing up any lore.

  81. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by Mr.+Jackson · · Score: 1

    I don't think so. DVDs don't cost $30 because of the cost of plastic.

  82. have you been living under a rock? by WormholeFiend · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it's not the cost of the recording media that makes movies and music expensive, otherwise CDs would've come down in price like the industry promised (ha!) when the technology first came out.

    if it was possible, you could come up with digital video disks made from cow chips, and they would still charge the same price for a movie.

    1. Re:have you been living under a rock? by jabberjaw · · Score: 1

      That depends on what record label you listen to. I routinely buy new classical CD's for $5-8 dollars.

    2. Re:have you been living under a rock? by zappy5000 · · Score: 1

      Hmm... I thought the original comment was insightful: making the media fragile decreases the shelf life, so it's more like I'm **renting** the game or music than **buying** it.

      And to your comment, WormholeFiend, yes, I think you are also correct. The way we get the price of the entertainment lower is to prevent piracy (unlawful copying) AND ease publishing. After all, my laserjet print works a lot faster than my CD burner

      --
      Zappy5000
  83. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 1

    ooo...but then Sony just needs to set up the Blueray tech to destroy the media if it is being copied.

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  84. rental stores by glsunder · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now movie rental stores will be asking...
    "paper or plastic"

  85. Oh well by niall2 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    There goes the paperless office.

    And just when I had migrated all my paper tape to DVD too.

    --
    Today is a gift. Save the receipt.
    1. Re:Oh well by macserv · · Score: 1

      Conidering that all your paper tape is probably on *one* DVD now, the next step shouldn't be too hard ;)

  86. The next phase in paper-encoding.... by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sony may be on to something here. Imagine encoding information onto the paper using some sort of symbol system that humans could be taught to interpret just by looking at the sheets? No computer necessary?

    Sheets of paper encoded like this could be cut square (most efficient use of space) and then bound by the edge so datasets larger than one-sheet's-worth could be looked at in a sequential fashion.

    These things are likely to be kind of bulky; if it ever takes off, there might be public buildings where people could borrow from a large repository of these paper-encoded datasets.

    This is kind of mind-boggling; it is likely to be years before Sony or anyone else takes it to this next step.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:The next phase in paper-encoding.... by Mattintosh · · Score: 1

      Perhaps to make these more machine friendly, they could simply be kept in stacks and instead of symbols, they use a grid-type system of holes. The machine would use the pattern of holes, while humans could read by noting which symbols were by the holes.

      It would make databases hellishly simple, since a single sheet could contain a single record, making record retrieval an automatic OR manual process, just in case you're not near a machine that could read these newfangled punched paper card things.

    2. Re:The next phase in paper-encoding.... by dhasenan · · Score: 1

      If the symbols come from a completely standardized set and had predictable formatting, then the optical version will suffice. The computer reader could input information from the paper squares using a system of photoelectric sensors and charged carbon rods; since the dark ink absorbs the light, the sensors can distinguish between the imprinted symbols and the whitespace. The photoelectric sensors shall be connected to a relay device that unifies the data streams in a particular order, then to a parser to determine which symbol is being displayed. That information could then be stored or used as necessary. A similar system could be used to temporarily record information while a program is in progress, but since it is desirable to erase this information when it is no longer necessary, perhaps engravings on clay are better. If the clay is kept soft, the impressions can be removed using a roller or other device.

    3. Re:The next phase in paper-encoding.... by dasmegabyte · · Score: 1

      where people could borrow from a large repository of these paper-encoded datasets.

      No, you fool! What if presidential assassins use these building as cover?

      --
      Hey freaks: now you're ju
  87. tree hugging by kippy · · Score: 1

    Since the disc is made out of paper, and the current number of optical discs is about 20 billion per year, it is easy to use even more trees.

    so you prefer to use hydrocarbons to make the disks rather than trees? Last time I checked, it's faster to grow a tree than conjure up oil from biomass.

    1. Re:tree hugging by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Hopefully not for long.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    2. Re:tree hugging by iamhassi · · Score: 1
      "Hopefully not for long."

      Course, that article was written nearly a year ago and I have yet to hear anything about it in the news. Strange, considering the rising cost of gas, you'd think this would be front page news.

      I especially love the public service announcement at the end:
      Mindfully.org note: ... If you must drive your own car, please drive one that gets great mileage--28mpg or above in the city and above 50mpg highway.

      Right, because there's lots of cars that get 28mpg city and 50+ highway.... in fact I can count the number on one hand, least the ones currently available in the US. Wonder if all the people working at mindfully.org take their own advice and drive hybrids or motorcycles?

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    3. Re:tree hugging by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I actually caught that reference after my post was made. I was just looking for the text of the original article, which is no longer available on the Discover Magazine website for non-subscribers.

      As for progress, it would seem that the Carthage facility was at least in the late stages of construction and testing, if not operational, as of December 2003, according to this site. I have no idea what his position on TDP happens to be, and I know that he has trouble with his link formatting (he uses images\picturename.jpg instead of the appropriate / so you need to make the change manually) and his ability to take clear photos, but there are pictures of what he says is the plant. It would be interesting to have some backup verification of this.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  88. riiiiip by SKPhoton · · Score: 1

    Man, I'd be afraid to rip my data. What if the disc gets folded and tossed in your wallet? Or if someone rubs it really hard. Can you smudge the data away?

    1. Re:riiiiip by tommck · · Score: 1

      yeah... it could get that "O" ring worn in it from being next to that old crusty cracked condom you've been hoping to use since high school; thus rendering it unreadable.

      Gotta hate not getting laid AND losing all your data... :)

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
  89. Excellent by base_chakra · · Score: 1

    Now I can pirate movies with a fax machine and some scissors. ... and then eat the evidence.

    I wonder if they're flushable?

  90. Origami = encryption by buckeyeguy · · Score: 1

    25GB on paper. Wow. Wonder how long it will take before AOL converts to those and starts inserting them into local newspapers.

    --
    I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
  91. Answer: Honestly, my dog ate it. by dalamarian · · Score: 1

    Question: "Where is your database homework?"

  92. All hail... by EaterOfDog · · Score: 0

    the return of "my dog ate my homework' excuse. With operating systems getting more reliable, we'll need to return to this old standby.

    --

    Crushing my karma one post at a time.
  93. More Info on the Blu-ray Disc Technology by william_lorenz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Apparently, there's an official industry consortium for the technology, with the list of on-board companies including Dell, HP, Hitachi, Pioneer, Sony, and many more. I also found this short intro on the underlying technology, which explains:

    Large recording capacity up to 27GB:

    By adopting a 405nm blue-violet semiconductor laser, with a 0.85NA field lens and a 0.1mm optical transmittance protection disc layer structure, it can record up to 27GB video data on a single sided 12cm phase change disc. It can record over 2 hours of digital high definition video and more than 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting (VHS/standard definition picture quality, 3.8Mbps)

  94. Dumbass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dumbass. it already exists its called "books"

    1. Re:Dumbass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the AC was just being a troll. No one is that obtuse. --a different, yet equally cowardly, anonymity

    2. Re:Dumbass by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      I think the AC was just being a troll. No one is that obtuse.

      Human stupidity is astounding. Just when you thought you've met the dumbest bone-head in the universe, along comes one EVEN DUMBER.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    3. Re:Dumbass by wiggles · · Score: 1

      "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity"

      --Napoleon (paraphrased)

  95. GULP by essreenim · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, is that a spam server I see?

    Not any more..

    *eject* .. *swallow* !!

    1. Re:GULP by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Your sig looked like it was part of your post, and made it pretty funny.

  96. But... by Foreign16 · · Score: 2, Funny

    My dog ate my presentation and backup of quicken.

  97. 007 by hinata · · Score: 1

    I heard 007's boss placed an order to sony already.

  98. Has anyone thought about.. by patrick.whitlock · · Score: 1

    the fact that now we're gonna have to worry about parercuts when getting the disk out? Fortunately tho, now you don't have to worry about the drive closing with your finger stuck in a disk

  99. 25 GB on Paper? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hear they have to take down an entire rainforest for each 100-pack spindle.

  100. How far we've come by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 2, Funny

    Look how far we've come from paper tape to paper disc!

    --
    www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
    1. Re:How far we've come by scrytch · · Score: 1

      And now you can go back to tape. Real tape.

      --
      I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
  101. Slow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is the seek time and transfer rate? Floppy mediums have always had trouble with spinning fast enough to transfer large amounts of data quickly. Usually you have to go with a rigid medium.

    Although if they used enough heads in an array they could have high transfer rates even though the seek time would still suck.

  102. I can see the problems now. by asoap · · Score: 1
    Person 1: "Ugh.. No. I want it to look more like this.... Do you have any scrap around?"

    Person 2: "NO!!! Dude what are you doing?! That's my porn archive!!!"

    Person 1: "Yes, you see, the curve goes around the box..."

    Person 2: "You asshat!"

    -asoap

    --
    Treat me like a marketing stat, and I'll treat your movie like a series of ones and zeros
  103. roll a fat one by codepunk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey won't it be nice to roll a fat one with a longhorn logo on it.

    --


    Got Code?
    1. Re:roll a fat one by FleshMuppet · · Score: 1

      "I would have your report, but, uh, Floyd smoked the second disc of your backup."

  104. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  105. Oboy. by blair1q · · Score: 1


    Font sizes down to 10e-7!

  106. Too delicate... by brxndxn · · Score: 1

    We might as well store data on ice cubes, bananas... or hell, even magnets!

    --
    --- We need more Ron Paul!
  107. better known as... by ZipR · · Score: 1

    books.

  108. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    oooh. that's nasty"

    That tickles me in a way that if Loretta were to tickle me in that way, I'd say 'Oh. Oh yes, that's nice. That's the spot'

  109. Aagh by galtenberg · · Score: 1

    Dammit, somewhere between my mind and google is a 5:Funny waiting to be claimed...

    What was that toy camera/slide-show thingy called... View-finder? With the paper discs - lol, need a picture of that here

  110. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  111. I suppose it works like this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read the article and the Blue disk pdf.
    From what I understand, the blue disk is made from three parts. The top is the support for the media, the thing that give it its physical solidity. Then there is the reflective layer, with the data. Then a very thin protective layer. The main difference from CD and DVD is that the physical support is over the recording layer, not under it. And because of this configuration, the laser doesn't have to go thru the physical support as it is the case for CD and DVD. From this I understand that the part with paper is the TOP of the new "paper disk" since the recording layer and the protective layer can't have any paper at all, (Unless they found a way to use the paper to record directly on it).

    I guess they cannot use only paper for the support of the "paper disk" because paper would wobble excessively at I don't know how many friggin rpms. Since they will use paper, I guess it won't be long before they add some color dye into them and start making them any color. Maybe, if enough paper is present at the surface, I could use my crayons to decorate my future Paper CD.

    But anyway, a disk with 25 gig on it? Who cares what it is made of! (Even if it is cool) Think about the 25GIG PER CD!

  112. Evidence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This time if RIAA catches you with some illegal music you can eat the evidence.

  113. More serious problem: by uradu · · Score: 1

    Warping and wobble. A paper disc has much less structural rigidity than a plastic disc, and bending or exposure to moisture (even just high air humidity) would be serious problems. Spinning an even just slightly warped disc at DVD speeds could easily ruin the lens assembly of the player in the long run, and would most likely instantly corrupt the data layer of the disc with concentric scratches.

    1. Re:More serious problem: by Daemonik · · Score: 1

      According to the article, the discs are only %51 paper by weight. So it's safe to assume that it's a paper/resin mix, similar to a fiberglass panel but with paper fibers.

    2. Re:More serious problem: by uradu · · Score: 1

      Which would still be susceptible to moisture wicking and bloating.

  114. dumbass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dumbass.

  115. That one big grocery list... by MoeMoe · · Score: 1

    Yes, that's right, *paper*.

    Never has a Post-It note held so much vital info on a fridge as the day Sony ruined my life and made my grocery list 40 times as big...

    it's funny... trust me

    --
    Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
    A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
  116. Forget double sided by SWroclawski · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about a mobius strip

  117. Captain Obvious strikes again! by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    It's spelled sarcasm, genius

    We would have never known this. Thanks, hero!

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  118. Vacuum by Catskul · · Score: 1
    Paper doesn't really decompose unless it's subjected to ... air

    Yeah as long as we are only using it in the vacuum of space we should have no problem.
    --

    Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
  119. Next thing you know... by Cranx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Next thing you know, they'll make the disc readable by the naked eye, patent it and then start suing printers.

  120. Cow Chips == Hollywood? by medscaper · · Score: 3, Funny

    if it was possible, you could come up with digital video disks made from cow chips, and they would still charge the same price for a movie.

    You haven't seen much of what's come out of Hollywood lately, have you?

    --
    Any sufficiently well-organized Government is indistinguishable from bullshit.
    1. Re:Cow Chips == Hollywood? by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      yes, actually, I have... thanks for ruining the subtlety of my hollywood-flame-bait! ;-)

    2. Re:Cow Chips == Hollywood? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, sorry. After I read your thoughts again, I thought, "How could that NOT be modded funny?" And I thought...maybe no one gets it, or maybe he intended another line of thought, and I'm just an ass...

      Or, all the above?

      Anyway, I loved it. Subtlety and all...

  121. I'll do it now by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    Great idea. I'll get ready right now to file the patent for "encoding data into paper using symbols that can be interpreted by looking at the paper."

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  122. Partitioning by Marc+Desrochers · · Score: 1

    Can I use scissors to partition the drive?

  123. Dust by rpillala · · Score: 1

    What about the little paper dust that builds up in anything that move paper rapidly? The copiers here at school build up an impressive amount of powder over time. I guess Sony's not using copy paper, but still...

    Ravi
    --
    When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
  124. Somebody tell SCO by cpu_fusion · · Score: 2, Funny
    Great, now SCO can satisfy their urge to deliver massive amounts of discovery materials in PAPER form, AND not piss off the judge.

    Of course, they'd probably just use the labels and keep the disks blank.

  125. Mile high of CDs now equals by n3z0rf · · Score: 1

    I can see it now. Before we showed how much paper was stacked up that would a equal a CD now how CDs will stack up to equal one ream of paper.

  126. OOPs by preclose · · Score: 1

    Sorry Prof, the dog ate my Disc.....

  127. Sony and the DVD Forum by The+Lynxpro · · Score: 1


    How is this going to secure Sony's dominance in terms of future standards related to the DVD Forum? Microsoft's WMP9 has already been chosen as the encoding form for the next generation HD-DVD format. Will Sony be able to use these advances as leverage to remove Microsoft from the lucrative standard? Or will we see a format war on HD-DVD just like what we've seen for recordable DVDs?

    Ultimately, I'd think Sony would want Microsoft expelled from the platform. I'd also wager that Sony would expell Windows from the Vaio platform if 1. Linux was viable for Joe Consumer, or 2. Sony purchased Apple and OS X became Sony's operating system of choice. #2 would add to Sony's OS "mess." They'd be supporting OS X for computers, Symbian for Sony Ericsson mobile phones, and Palm OS for their PDAs. That's pretty funny, actually.

    --
    "Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
  128. LoC by pr0nbot · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ok... so if you made discs out of all the books in the Library of Congress... how many Libraries of Congress could you store?

  129. Audio encoding advances? by AtariAmarok · · Score: 5, Funny

    Has anyone posted an item recently on the latest audio encoding advances which make it difficult to make digital copies?

    The music industry is working on a new type of CD. It is not that compact, actually: I am guessing that the "medium pizza" size is to make it difficult to actually steal from music stores.

    The discs are black, and instead of being encoded with laser-readable bits, the surface is covered with one very long spiralled indentation (or groove). Information engraved in this indentation can be read through a tiny stylus and converted into sound.

    To further thwart the digital p2p "rip and post it on Kazaa" world, the audio technology is actually analog instead of digital.

    The technology required to burn these things is rather bulky and expensive. Prototypes have been produced by a new audio company called "Decca" (Digital Encoding Concern Company - Advanced), some of the prototypes have turned up at garage sales. These are typically stamped with very old dates (1938? 1941?) to confuse people.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  130. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by noidentity · · Score: 2, Funny

    "If I want to try out a game ... I could get the cheap $5 full version paper demo, try it out, and when the disk finally breaks down..."

    They could use PD-RW (Paper Disc Rewritable), which uses disappearing ink instead of regular ink that is used for PD-R. As a bonus, the burner doubles as a disc label printer.

  131. Just when you thought trees were safe... by utahraptor · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess advances in technology still can't help mother nature.

    1. Re:Just when you thought trees were safe... by narcc · · Score: 1

      Maybe its just me, but wouldn't paper discs be more environmentally friendly than say, plastic ones?

  132. Yikes by ioexcptn · · Score: 2, Funny

    s/head crash/no ink/g

    Please, oh please, tell me I dont have to wrangle through OfficeDepot looking for ink cartridges for my disks now.

    --

    Intelligence is like four wheel drive, having it just means you'll get stuck in more remote places.
  133. Environmental impact by oreilco · · Score: 1

    There goes the rain forest.
    Is there nothing it cannot do ?

  134. Yowza by MochaMan · · Score: 1

    Brings new meaning to ripping a disc.

  135. Hey, it's waterproof! by swschrad · · Score: 1

    ooops... uh, it's fire-resistant! sorry. well, it's, aaahhhhh, archival, yeah, that's it, archival! oh, not that either? mold-resistant? kid-tolerant? oh, I see.

    well, they make good coasters.

    next time, try stone and chisels.

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  136. But... by PhuckH34D · · Score: 1
    But... can they make a rewritable?

    --
    You're old school? I beta tested the motherf***ing abacus!
  137. You're a genius by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    You know, we could use this things to determine who wins an election! It would be foolproof: no one would arguing over where the holes are and if they are punched out or not. The possibilities are boundless.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  138. Attack of the metric pedant by Vreejack · · Score: 1

    kilobyte is 1000, not 1024.

    1024, or 2^10, is kilobinary, or kibi.
    2^20 is mebi, not mega. This has been true since 1998, so get with the program.

    Symbols for them are officially supposed to be Ki and Mi, but use of capital "K" for kibi in computer circles is at least unambiguous.

    Vreejack

    --
    "Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed!" -- Ivanhoe
    1. Re:Attack of the metric pedant by Mateito · · Score: 1

      > 1024, or 2^10, is kilobinary, or kibi.
      > 2^20 is mebi, not mega. This has been true since
      > 1998, so get with the program.

      That's what happens when that marketting people get hold of things.

      Metric pedant is fine, but computation still works in base-2.

      So:

      KB is 1024 bytes
      kB is 1000 bytes
      Kb is 1024 bits = 128 bytes
      kb is 1000 bits = 125 bytes.

      Que estupido.

  139. I just hope there're flushable! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope this takes off! I can't wait to wipe may ass with Microsoft Windows! I'll let you know just how soft it really is!

  140. Now the Music Industry will have low cost media.. by lcsjk · · Score: 4, Funny
    Now that the music industry has this low cost media, they will be able to provide me with music CD albums for only $16.98.

    Wait, isn't that the same... Oops, I forgot! I said Music Industry.

    I meant that now AOL can reduce the price of their CDs.

  141. I'm won't be impressed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...until they can write on my tin-foil hat!

  142. You're a genius! by Seekerofknowledge · · Score: 1

    That one side would have inifinite storage capacity!

    1. Re:You're a genius! by ashot · · Score: 1

      no, it would have equal surface area to the strip before it was twised.. unless you were joking.

      --
      -ashot
    2. Re:You're a genius! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hereby nominate you, ashot, for the Dryest Person of the Year Award! In addition to this commemorative medal you will also receive an asskicking and an injection of humor!

      rk

  143. Latest technology in DMCA circumvention... by johnthorensen · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...The Photocopier.

    -JT

  144. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by Dejitaru+Neko · · Score: 3, Funny

    So instead of AOL coasters we'll now be receiving AOL kleenex?

    --
    Nyo nyo, the Neko Boy has spoken.
  145. Laser vs. Paper? Obligatory Quote! by shachart · · Score: 1

    This disc will self-destruct in 5 seconds. Good luck, Jim!

    --
    Those who can, do. Those who can't, consult.
  146. Re:RPS! - obligatory Monty Python reference by Psyqlone · · Score: 0

    "good old rock, nothing beats rock!"

    Howzabout very sharp scissors?

  147. The new ultimate spy disk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apone reading the following material drop in water to destory.

  148. pr0n on toilette paper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hehe :)

  149. Does it come in colours? by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

    "The latest RC has passed QA and gone gold paper!"

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  150. Paper near-line storage by 87C751 · · Score: 1

    Someone beat you to it back in the 80's.

    --
    Mail? Put "slashdot" in the subject to pass the spam filters.
  151. Bang Goes "The Paperless Office" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no further comment really except i suppose we've come full circle now!

  152. Printing by rabtech · · Score: 1

    What everyone seems to be missing is that these discs are good for printing on - much easier, cheaper, and better looking than current "printable" DVDs/CDs.

    That is the real benefit in my opinion.

    --
    Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
  153. BAM! BAM! BAM! Open up, Police!! by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 1

    And the suspect tosses 4000gb of disgusting kiddy sickness into a 2hp shredder. Bzzzzzzzzzt!!
    DA: Sorry your honor, we have no evidence on this slime except paper shreds.
    Judge: Case dismissed...

    I think this may end up being a bad idea.

  154. SIX Sided cheat sheet! by lcsjk · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Don't show this to your kid!

    Last year my 30 year old daughter informed me of how much data a 7th grade student could put on the six sides of a new yellow pencil. From a few feet away it looks like it has been chewed on so the teacher asks no questions. Use only three sides and it even stays hidden when you put the pencil down.

    If IBM had been able to use this technology, no telling how much data they could have put on paper disks! About 2 gigs along the edge even.

    1. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Dun+Malg · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Last year my 30 year old daughter informed me of how much data a 7th grade student could put on the six sides of a new yellow pencil. From a few feet away it looks like it has been chewed on so the teacher asks no questions. Use only three sides and it even stays hidden when you put the pencil down.

      When I was in 5th grade, I used a similar trick for a test in which we had to name all the states and their capitals. Rather than spend 4 weeks memorizing those useless facts, I simply wrote them on my pencil in the format of "Sacramento, California" = "SAC-CA". My prototype pencil turned out to be too obvious, though, so I then created a modified alphabet that only I could read. I probably spent more time refining that alphabet than it would have taken me to memorize the stupid state capitals, but in the end the alphabet was a better investment. I was for years able to use it as a "plain sight" type cheat-sheet font, whereby I could write out names, dates, or other mnemonic reminders on (say) the paper cover of a history book and leave it in plain sight next to my desk. To anyone else it looked like meaningless scratchings. I managed to get through YEARS of school without having to learn anything! ;)

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    2. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by fatgraham · · Score: 1

      gee, 30 years old and only in 7th grade?

      call me a pessamist, but doesn't sound like it worked

    3. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by BSDKaffee · · Score: 1

      Only it sucks when you have to sharpen your pencil!

    4. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't need any cheat sheets to get through years of school without learning anything... it's all about knowing which professors to get!

    5. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to mention that I never cheated. I studied hard, tried to memorize/learn things. It's been over 10 years since I left high school and I am back in college "learning" again. I think one good example is some of the math that I work so hard at in the beginning of the semester, even by the end at the final, I can't remember how to do it, and I spent so many hours slaving over it. I have to relearn what I already learned in highschool in order to advance.

      So my point is, that I think I wasted my time playing by the rules because I didn't really remember anything anyways, years later I can't recall, even after weeks/months go by I can't recall. This leads me to question, now, as I did in highschool, what is the point of this exercise called school? It's a lot of busy-work with no real purpose. Maybe if I became a mathematician, and religiously practiced those skills I would remember, but then I would forget history, etc, etc.

      It seems to me forcing someone to learn/do things they have no interest in doing isn't going to result in any long term benefits.

    6. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      You're confused.

      Purpose of school is not to learn anything, despite the claims, but to get a degree to impress PHB's with.

    7. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by lcsjk · · Score: 2, Funny

      How many years have you been working in the encription coding department now that you finally realized that you actually learned something?

    8. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      And all that you really had to do was actually learn the Cyrillic.

    9. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      And all that you really had to do was actually learn the Cyrillic.

      Funny you should mention Cyrillic. My original system was based partly on the ancient Greek alphabet. Straight out of high school I went into the army and was trained as a Russian linguist. After six months of language school I got very sick and missed almost a week of classes. The last thing I wanted was to be "held back" because that would mean an additional 3 months there, plus I'd have to move to Company C, which was in the crappy 1950's barracks and I was in Company F, in the brand-new barracks with private bathrooms. I swore I could catch up, so they let me stay if my marks didn't drop below 75%; but there was a large test coming up and I just couldn't get all the vocabulary memorized in time. So I created a Cyrillic version of my plain-sight alphabet. It didn't actually require much work-- I mostly just had to come up with new symbols for the ones that were different (zhe, myaki znak, etc.). Subsequently, I passed the exam, got to stay in the good barracks, and had time to learn the vocabulary propewrly.

      One interesting thing I found was that I could write my code-cyrillic faster than I could write proper Cyrillic handwriting. Not only that, it was far more readable because it didn't look like a bunch of strung together W's and U's, which Cyrillic has a nasty tendency to do when handwritten by novices. I ended up using it as a shorthand for taking notes sometimes, much to the dismay of classmates who'd ask to borrow them after class.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    10. Re:SIX Sided cheat sheet! by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      How many years have you been working in the encription coding department now that you finally realized that you actually learned something?

      I'm a firm believer in the old saying "never let school interfere with your education". My interest in this simple symbol-cipher actually was instrumental in my choice to become a signal intelligence analyst in the army eight years later.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  155. My 25gig paper disk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lessee here, let me get out the trusty pencil...

    quick experimentation shows I can get ~5 bytes into 10cm x .5 cm, or .1 m * .005 m = .0005 m^2

    5 bytes / .0005 m^2 = 25 e 9 bytes / x m^2

    10,000 bytes/m^2, 25 e 9 bytes -> 25e5 = 2.5 e6

    2.5 million square meters.

    No Problem! Disk access takes a while tho.

  156. Score point evaporated by lcsjk · · Score: 1

    This comment lost a score point in going to the next higher level. I don't understand!

    1. Re:Score point evaporated by darkonc · · Score: 1

      Somebody who modded it up (forgot and) posted a reply to this article. This would result in the moderation being undone.

      --
      Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
  157. You know somebody will do this... by WildFire42 · · Score: 3, Funny

    You know that some joke company will come out with Flash paper-based discs.

    Personally? I can't wait until some sucker asks if they can borrow a Paper-Rom (or whatever we'll term them), and he hears a "Whumf!" coming from his drive after he starts trying to burn something to it.

  158. Let's put in in perspective! by lcsjk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The present CDs are very close to 1.1 mm thick, although I do have one that is close to 1.5-mm thick. THe diameter of a thick black hair is about 0.11-mm and that of a blond (natural) is about 0.08-mm. When I pick up a (0.12 x 0.050)-mm particle (I work with those) I cannot tell which side of the tweezers if sticks to, and my tweezers are needle sharp.

  159. Re:My 25gig paper disk - :) Nice. (n/t) by Theriault · · Score: 1

    n/t = no text

  160. Open Standard - Let's Go! by LionKimbro · · Score: 1

    For those who are interested in organizing around this, please go to:

    http://www.quicktopic.com/26/H/pVk3skqaGhFU

    Then, hit the button to sign up for mail when posts are made.

    We can do SO MUCH with this. We just need an open standard for the way computers read the data from a scanned page.

    IMAGINE: You could put this on business cards, with your PGP key, your contact information, everything on it.

    You could make it so that you could make fliers, with large letters, readible by humans, viewable from a distance.

    But inside the "gigantic" letters (say, 24pt letters), you could have encoded a bunch of computer readable data..!

    So someone could take the flier, and then scan it, and then there would be all this semantic information that the computer could read as well!

    So, you get directions to something, and embedded in the human instructions themselves, are the computer interpretation information..!

    You could do ALL SORTS of stuff with this..!

    We just need to ACT.

    So sign up for the list.

  161. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  162. Here's hoping by cryptochrome · · Score: 1

    If they do this right, they could set up the reader to support lower resolutions of data as well. That would allow for very cheap consumer level printers (and cheaper mass production) and disks Blu-Ray-DVD-Rs that could still play back on devices. Also, lower resolutions would presumably be more durable since it would take more to destroy a bigger dot.

    Well, I was all for some of the other technologies out there, but this sounds pretty darn good. Here's hoping they update the DVD protocol to support everything they should have supported in the original:

    - arbitrary data (XML based) and arbitrary code (interpreted?) to allow for functions and services not invented yet. Possibly doing away with the current structure entirely such that players provide the ability to decode and render the main types of data and run code for everything else. Among other things, this would allow for highly customized menus, widgets, and popups. Of course you would probably want a default interaction.

    - Unicode-based text tracks with embedded fonts in full color (preferably keeping the timing and typesetting and animated positioning data separate), sprites and secondary video tracks for more complex additions (censoring, sign replacement, etc.)

    - the ability to use online services to extend disk function, or allowing small programs/files to use data on the disk, which is particularly useful for letting people write their own subtitle tracks for the disk - or even automatic machine translations of the native one.

    - the ability to read, record, and erase small amounts of data to the disk itself, allowing for settings to be saved. Specifically, things like activation codes, saved games, and when the disk was last stopped. In other words, doing away with the need for memory cards. Authentication services would probably be necessary for this.

    - Better provisions for direct use by computers, a directory structure and file format that makes sense, just because. I'd like for it to be such that each section can be separately copied and played but fair use goes against the business model doesn't it?

    - Single releases meant for a world market, with broad language support, no region coding, and low prices. Also, smarter players that choose the default settings you want (like native audio plus subtitles, except when audio is in english).

    --

    ---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?

  163. burn the cd? by Haydn+Fenton · · Score: 2, Funny

    But what if when you burn the CD, you burn the CD?!

  164. Here's more by cryptochrome · · Score: 1

    - self healing DVD-RWs: having many Reed-Solomon code based parity blocks of for arbitrary data recovery and error detection (a parchive, allowing the player to find and compensate for errors in the disk media on the fly, possibly even repairing them in the process.

    --

    ---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?

  165. There already exists... by the_twisted_pair · · Score: 1

    ...a paper-based information storage medium with at least equal information (bit) density; furthermore it is a universal standard that can be read without reference to particular software, or even hardware platform. It is suitable for archival use, but only available in PROM form.

    It's called photographic paper.

  166. Labeling by oO+Peeping+Tom+Oo · · Score: 1

    Can I use my sharpie on it?

  167. Toilet paper version by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    Wow, just wait till the shrink that down to something like....toilet paper....errr...ya. Then again, it would be nice to make a backup of SCO software and wipe my ass with it.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
    1. Re:Toilet paper version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, funny joke considering your username - DigiCharmin

  168. score 1: obvious by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    "dog ate my hard drive"

    --
    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  169. Tech support nightmare... by PierceLabs · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I have a new computer with one of those new Paper-ROMS and it seems to be acting up"

    'What do you mean?'

    "I went to staples and picked up some computer paper and cut it into a disk shape and put it in and now there is a burning smell coming from the drive"

  170. Dammit! by tarsi210 · · Score: 1

    And all this time I've been recycling STORAGE SPACE! ARGH!

    Hands off my 3-ring binder, that's my new RAID controller. If I doodle in the margins, am I considered a hacker?

  171. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by Dun+Malg · · Score: 4, Funny
    So instead of AOL coasters we'll now be receiving AOL kleenex?

    more like AOL toilet paper

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  172. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by 74nova · · Score: 1

    ah, but the hackers(in the true sense of the word, not script kiddies) always win. it just seems that nothing like that ever works for very long before somebody cracks it. decss, daemon tools, linux on xbox, etc. i will admit that the tech to get dvds to not line out to vcrs is very cool and sofar as i know has prevented low-tech copying of dvds in that manner.

    --
    use your turn signal! you people act like it's divulging information to the enemy
  173. It did not record to paper plates.... by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Informative

    but it doesn't record to paper plates

    My wording could have been more clear. The 1541 ACTED like it formatted a paper plate. You'd have to cut the plate, or other piece of cardboard to size, place it in the drive, and then run the format operation. This would proceed and conclude with no error message. This does not mean that the resulting paper disc was ready for Commodore data storage!

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  174. The smaller the better by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    The smaller (physically) and the bigger (data capacity) that magnetic media gets, the harder it is to destroy (by magnetic field). ....until you get ultra-tiny media that is nearly impervious. I think I have one of those 33-gig Hitachi bean-drives around here somewhere... Hold on a sec....

    Damn, I think it rolled into that crack in the floorboard.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  175. Paper Talk Wiki by LionKimbro · · Score: 1

    Please visit the Paper Talk wiki to organize around making Open standards and implementations of this sort of technology, or just to watch.

    A digital camera can be a scanner, and automatically pull out digital information.

    You can encode computer data inside of big letters, readable by humans.

    You can do a lot with this technology.

  176. Finally by Bruha · · Score: 1

    Those Rastafarians will have a hard time keeping their data safe when they run out of zig zags.

  177. Just like Microsoft Office by AtariAmarok · · Score: 2, Funny

    Which would still be susceptible to moisture wicking and bloating.

    Microsoft Office has been succeptible to bloat for many years now. This wicking thing, that will be a new phenomemon.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  178. Yomiko will probably happy about this. by Maul · · Score: 1

    Yomiko Readman will no doubt benefit from this invention. Now she can use disk drives as weapons in addition to books!

    --

    "You spoony bard!" -Tellah

  179. Full bleed [Re:Interesting] by Theovon · · Score: 1

    On an 8.5x11 page, you really don't want to print all the way to the edge. The registration is too difficult (down to 1/300 inch). Plus, edges get more easily damaged. Additionally, you'd like reference marks that a scanner would use to determine alignment.

    Of course, I know this all academic anyhow. :)

  180. This screws up the LoC... by utexaspunk · · Score: 1

    So how many LoC's is the LoC, if we count using the paper in the LoC like this? That's a lot of info...

  181. The Hound by zx2c4 · · Score: 0

    And then, once we try to run away with "stolen" paper discs, the electric hound will come after us, right?

    --
    ZX2C4
  182. Rock, paper, scissor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wrong, paper does not kick rock. Paper wraps rock, rock smash scissors, scissors cut up paper.

  183. 74th copy of "Gigli"? by darkonc · · Score: 1

    No point in asking why you had 75+ copies of Gigli, is there? (much less why you chose to shred them).

    --
    Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
    1. Re:74th copy of "Gigli"? by Stregone · · Score: 1

      Shreding them sounds like enough of a reason to have them IMO. :p

  184. Re:RPS! - obligatory Monty Python reference by boristdog · · Score: 1

    "They're very GOOD scissors..."

  185. Are these going to be "RW" disks by Copious1 · · Score: 1

    or will you need to use "white-out"?
    (or will an eraser work too?)

  186. Useful by digid · · Score: 1

    Now I'll be able to do something useful with the AOL cds. Wipe my butt!!

  187. paper? by Zilfondel2 · · Score: 1

    what KIND of paper? There are thousands...some are made of synthetic materials, too.

  188. Renewable Resource? by darkonc · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's only a 'renewable resource' if it's being renewed by nature faster than we're consuming it... This is true with neither oil nor trees. The difference is that trees regrow fast enough that you can see some progress.

    At the rate things are going, however, we're likely to run out of both at about the same time.

    With trees, there's also the factor that forests are a good deal more than just trees, and trees do more than just stand there (like oil generally does). Problem is that nobody ever managed to put a price on oxygen manufacturing, pollution abatement, flood/drought/weather moderation or many of the other things that forests do.

    --
    Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
  189. Forthcoming lawsuit by the Toilet Paper Industry.. by jayveekay · · Score: 1

    ..against AOL for "dumping" product on the market. ;)

  190. But, Teacher... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The dog ate my paper disc!!!

    The more things change, the more they stay the same...

  191. Thank you. by PretzelBat · · Score: 1

    Thank you for your sincere, well-intentioned advice. If I had known that you were a licensed psychotherapist as well as a RPG developer, I would never have deigned to "defend my ego" from an obviously astute critique of my signature line. My response to your obviously correct criticism (after all, your ad hominem argument MUST prove that you were initially correct, as all such arguments do), was completely unnecessary.

    In addtion, I would probably have *never* been able to understand my lack of "sincere friends" without your probing analysis. Please contine to bless the world with your deep insight into irony and its consequences and accept my sincerest apologies.

    I offer a complete retraction of any statements you may have found incorrect or offensive in any way.

    P.S. Should we actually meet and talk sometime so that when you offer insight into my personality, you won't have to talk exclusively out of your ass?

    1. Re:Thank you. by wurp · · Score: 1

      You're still demonstrating problems with sincerity.

      Please tell me where I used ad hominem arguments. Nowhere did I criticize you personally. I did offer advice that you change your behavior.

      I should also point out that ad hominem is only a logical fallacy when a point is being argued. You pointed out I was wrong, I agreed and offered advice. No point was being argued.

    2. Re:Thank you. by wurp · · Score: 1

      Hmm, let me clarify my position. I wasn't saying "you have emotional problems". I was saying "it looks like you turn to sarcasm a lot to express yourself". In my _personal experience_ when I do passive aggressive things like expressing myself via sarcasm, it makes it difficult for me to determine when I'm in the wrong. Hence it makes it difficult for me to correct myself.

      I notice that you've put me on your enemies list. This is another indication that you just don't want to listen to anything negative that might be applicable to you. All I'm saying is, you should think hard if that's a position you want to take, because it might not be good for you in the long run.

  192. So much for... by enigmals1 · · Score: 0

    ...the paperless environment. :D

  193. Re:BAM! BAM! BAM! Open up, Police!! by praxis · · Score: 1

    Yes, because we need to evaluate new technology on the possibility of it empowering criminals rather than the massive amount of good it could do.

  194. But can you wipe your arse with it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would do that with the AOL cd's if they were on paper.

  195. Next up, PD linux by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 1

    What is PD linux, you ask?

    It is Paper Disk linux.

    Why is it so special...

    It is a roll your own distro.

    Bah-dum ching!!

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
  196. Backup times by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Soo... can I now back up 25 GB in 4 seconds using the nearest Kinkos or Xerox?
    (50 GB in double-sided mode)

    HSHS!

  197. Paper Storage? by Vampyre_Dark · · Score: 1

    Paper Storage!? Now there's an idea that won't hold water.

  198. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  199. ZX Spectrum Microdrive. by Moderation+abuser · · Score: 1

    Mobius tape. A whole 85kb. Which was huge at the time. Tasword could only handle about 10k-20k at a time.

    --
    Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
  200. Vinyl Burners by meehawl · · Score: 1

    The technology required to burn these things is rather bulky and expensive.

    Sorry, but Vestax have devised a rather cheap, portable, and excellent vinyl cutter to duplicate this newfangled analog vinyl technology of which you speak.

    --

    Da Blog
  201. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by UltimaL337Star · · Score: 1

    AOL cd's on paper?!?!?! My gawd the power they would have! THE MASSES THEY WOULD CREATE! But I bet they'd be much easier to burn (No sick pun intended)

  202. Seeing as how this is the only serious thread here by Atario · · Score: 1

    ...I thought I'd join in on it to ask another technical question:

    What's the point?

    No, really? What is the point? How is this better than existing disks? The article mentions easier labeling, that it's scissorable, and some vagueness about a higher information-to-raw-material ratio.

    As far as I ever knew, labeling has never yet been a problem.

    You can cut it with scissors? So what. There are plenty of easy wasy to destroy regular disks.

    That ratio? Um...I'm supposed to care WHY?

    Am I just missing something basic here?

    --
    "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
  203. Head crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Hey man, what did you do with my archive?

    What archive?

    Those storage papers man.

    Oh yeah, those papers. I smoked them!

  204. your name on a grain of rice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder how many lil name-on-rice street-vendors they use in their manufacturing facility.

  205. Punch cards? by smithmc · · Score: 1


    <emeril> I don't know where you get your punch cards, but where I get mine, they don't come with 25GB on 'em! </emeril>

    --
    Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
  206. But more importantly: by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

    Remember our old friend DRM? Now DVD stores can make DRM'd DVDs, which only work once, and which also don't pollute the environment.

    You would probably remember the original complaint about the single-use DVDs coming from the environmental groups, about the waste of unrecyclable plastic.

    Well, now your single-use disk can be thrown in the recycling bin and become something else, which is awesome.

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
    1. Re:But more importantly: by josephpate · · Score: 1
      Remember our old friend DRM? Now DVD stores can make DRM'd DVDs, which only work once, and which also don't pollute the environment.


      We're talking about PAPER hard drives. Unless I missed something paper is made from trees.

      Yeah, these things are gonna be great for the environment.
    2. Re:But more importantly: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Errr, discs, not hard drives. Sorry.

    3. Re:But more importantly: by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1
      Remember our old friend DRM? Now DVD stores can make DRM'd DVDs, which only work once, and which also don't pollute the environment.
      Yeah, it will be a combination DVD player / paper shredder.

      Seriously, the product is only 51% paper.
      Who knows what noxious chemicals are in the other 49%?
      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
  207. Only 51% paper? by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

    Couldn't we do this already, by simply making the bottom half of a DVD out of paper?

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  208. New DRM enabled drives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When a disk has expired or otherwise found in violation of the IP license. Your new optical drive will ramp the disc up to full speed and engage a spurred wheel which will be run back and forth over the disk surface. Upon completion the now destroyed disk will eject.

    On the down side, your drive will occasionally start wheezing until it coughs up a paper hairball.

  209. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by lcsjk · · Score: 1

    Sombody mod that one up. That is the best unintended I have seen in ages.

  210. Don't even let me get started with spilled beer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Co-worker: Hey, who left this paper scrap of trash on the floor?

    *Crumple*

    Me: You stupid ass! You have just destroyed my entire life's collection of pr0n!

    Paper is meant to be crumpled. Dear God, don't turn my lifelong quest of destroying paper and typing it into digital form against me!

  211. Oh, Brilliant... by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1


    Another "archival media" that can be destroyed by crumpling it up...

    First it was eight-inch floppies that became worthless if you bent them, then it was CDs that become worthless if they get a fingerprint on them, now this.

    Anybody with any brains out there that can make an archival media with large storage, high speed, and Superman's invulnerability?

    Geek Morons! Jesus Baron von Christ!

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  212. Re:Interesting Error by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    2880dpi is not 2880x2880 dots per sq inch.

    2880dpi is the square root of 2880, (assuming both height and width had the same # of dots) which would be 53.66563145999496, hardly feasible. However, 48*60 also equals 2880dpi, which is much more feasible.

    Width*Height=Area so: 46*60=2880

    Also, 7 color != 7 bit. If you include white, you get 8 color, which would be 3 bit. [ 100 == 8 ] However in the calculation 8 is correct because each dot represents 8 values.

    To finish the calculation,
    2880dpi * 93.5 sq in [in an 8.5" X 11"] * 8 colors = 2154240 bits
    2154240 bits / 8 = 269280 bytes

    So, 269,280 kilobytes is all that fits on one side of a sheet of paper.

  213. paper disk? by Zebthepilot · · Score: 1

    I'm thinking only one thing. paper jam. zeb

    --
    http://www.zebpalmer.com
  214. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by CycoChuck · · Score: 1

    So instead of AOL coasters we'll now be receiving AOL kleenex?

    more like AOL toilet paper


    Or you can get a cross-cut shredder and have AOL confetti.

    --
    Windows is as solid as quicksand.
  215. Don't forget by TheLink · · Score: 1

    Paperless office. :).

    --
  216. Cowboy, Bear, Ninja is the way to go! by lacerus · · Score: 1

    Cowboy shoots Bear.
    Bear eats Ninja.
    Ninja uses his mad kung fu skills to block Cowboy's bullets and kick his ass ;-)

    --
    -- My signature is my passport. Verify me.
  217. Fax? by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    Cool, now we can fax 25GB of data.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  218. Does this mean..... by StormKrow · · Score: 1

    ..that now when we get a buffer underrun when we're burning these paper disks that we now have the option of recycling, or rolling our favorite tobacco, or tobacco-like product so we can really "BURN" a disc?....lol Or we'll hear things like, "No really, my dog really did eat my homework, it was on disc."

    --
    Who cares about the ozone layer?...thanks to CFC's I can write my name......IN CHEESE!!!
  219. You're right by AtariAmarok · · Score: 1

    You're right. I have one of those in my 5.25" drive bay in my tower. It really is compact.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  220. OT... by hplasm · · Score: 0
    They come in PINTS?!

    Elephants??

    --
    ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
  221. Imagine a be0wulf fleet of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dead horses flying and beating me up.

  222. Re:Now the Music Industry will have low cost media by rickshaf · · Score: 1

    A variation on this theme would be that the problem of disposing of worn-out paper AOL CDs will be worse than the problem of disposing of worn-out automobile tires! I can see it now: "Yet another paper-AOL-CD dump has erupted in flames. More at 11!"

  223. Re:Cheap demos? Cheaper "throwaway" movies? by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 1

    buy a TV with RCA out and you can tape DVDs just fine ;-)

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3