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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."

44 of 473 comments (clear)

  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. 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 niff · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    2. 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.
  3. Ah, hell by KevinKnSC · · Score: 5, Funny

    There go my plans for a paperless office.

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

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

    1. 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
  5. 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.

  6. Paper disk... by cexshun · · Score: 5, Funny

    A paper disk huh?

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

  7. 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.

  8. 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.
  9. 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.

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

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

  11. 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.

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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.
  15. 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.

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

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

  17. 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
  18. 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?

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


    Now my new set of AOL coasters will be absorbant!

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

    after Sony releases the new College-ruled version.

  21. 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 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
  22. 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.
  23. rental stores by glsunder · · Score: 3, Funny

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

  24. 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.
  25. GULP by essreenim · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, is that a spam server I see?

    Not any more..

    *eject* .. *swallow* !!

  26. 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]

  27. 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.

    --


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

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

  29. 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.
  30. Forget double sided by SWroclawski · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about a mobius strip

  31. 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.
  32. 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.
  33. 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.
  34. 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.

  35. 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.
  36. 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.

  37. 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.