Slashdot Mirror
Blu-Ray DVDs Hit 100 GB
Xesdeeni writes "According to The Register and MacWorld, TDK has unveiled a Blu-Ray DVD with four layers that will hold a whopping 100 GB of data. This is shortly after the previously reported HD-DVD announced three-layer HD-DVD that would hold a "mere" 45 GB. Unfortunately, this is also on the heels of the news that the HD DVD unification talks have stalled."
That certainly gives new meaning to the words "hard drive"...
The view was horrible and the smell was even worse; Julie severely regretted becoming a proctologist.
As a person who runs his own server, I've had a hard disk wear out, and a CD-ROM drive die on me. In both cases, I've been set back in one way or another. The hard disk was bigger set back because I can't just force the drive door open and take the discs out.
Plus, a hard disk is more easily damaged if dropped. I wouldn't risk dropping my XBox or my HDD equipped PS2, let alone my laptop in a bet to prove their stability. I would drop my DVD-Rs and CD-Rs to prove their stability.
However, portable hard disks are a good idea. For those of us who work with media files, having files small enough to fit on cheap flash memory is a luxury, and burning a disc is wasteful. When I've dealt with Illustrator files that are about 148 MB, and whole projects that are larger than 1.8 GB, a portable hard disk that I could just plug in would be a nice thing. But, I wouldn't trust a purchased video on a miniature hard disk, but rather an optical disc, where I can replace the physical mechanisms easily without having to worry about damaging the media itself.
Plus, discs are backwards compatible. All DVD drive read CDs, and there's no reason Blu-Ray or HD-DVD won't be able to run older discs. However, hard disks on the other hand... it's like saying that DV can run Hi8. Plus, anyone remember when the newer model hard disks came out, replacing the old standard (I forget what it was called, I remember my 386 had it). When I tried to pull data off of it, only to find out that the connectors for EIDE and the older hard disks are incompatible.
And don't think that this is an extreme case. My brother plays individual game disc, and reviews parts of videos often enough to wear down a cassette or hard disk. Unless you can guarantee that this hard disk is going to survive no less than five years of constant abuse, I'm not going to rely on it for my media.
(Sorry about the double post, I accidentally hit the post button and stopped it, realizing I forgot my
tags)
Rawr
The ability to store up to 100GB is remarkable but who will really use these discs? I understand that the movie industry will propably get the most out them (can you say "exceedingly bloated DRM?") but what about Mr. Average Q. Joe? What are the real benefits for the typical consumer?
Most consumers have a difficult job filling up a regular CD with their vacation photos and, with a 100GB to play around with, the only way a lot of them will get the "full" usuage out of these DVD's is backing up their entire HDD. But, as anyone who has ever served as tech support for their friends can asert, system backups are wasted on the general Windows 98 crowd.