“Optical media” is a fancy term for any laser-read disc, such as CD-ROMs. They can hold anywhere from 650 to 750 MB, the equivalent of at least six Zip disks. They can be used on almost any computer, since CD-ROM drives are standard. The CD-RW format allows unlimited rewrites to the same CD, just as removable disks do.
The CD-R (CD-writable only) and CD-RW (CD-rewritable) have greatly amplified the portable storage capabilities of the average user. Since the prices of CD writable/rewritable drives have gone down so drastically since their introduction to the market years ago, they have nearly become a standard item in home computers. In businesses, most users have access to at least a CD-R/RW drive.
Disadvantages of the CD-ROM
For backup purposes, 650 MB still isn’t a whole lot. When you’re talking about e-mail files, high-quality image files, video files, and other space-hogging items, you easily get into gigabytes and gigabytes of data. It is a great place to store the photos from your digital camera at home. It is not so great to store the hundreds or thousands of gigabytes generated by users on a network.
Also, the speed of writing to a CD-ROM is not as fast as writing to a hard drive. It is more or less equivalent to the speed of writing on a floppy, except with much more data involved.
The DVD
The DVD may replace the CD-ROM for removable storage in the near future, with its far greater capacity of at least 4.7 GB. The price for a DVD writable drive may come down low enough for it to become standard one day on home computers, making the CD-RW drive obsolete. However, by the time we reach that point, space demands will also increase. It’s the same old story that has repeated itself over and over again in computer storage technology. A new technology advance comes along, promising oodles of storage space, but then our images, video clips, and data have also become more sophisticated and elaborate, thereby increasing data storage demands. Our need for storage always seems to outpace the capacity of the storage media available.
When will the vicious cycle end? Is there hope for the world?
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