Not only a dead format, but a unstable shelf life format. CDs and DVDs were always marketed as storage for good. But technically that was never possible, not the way it was actually manufactured. The used plastics and metal laminates had a rough expected life of 15 years or thereabouts, at best. Obviously a massive increase from magnetic tapes that started degrading as soon as the recording stopped and got slowly more damaged the more you played them. But still not a permanent solution. No organized data is stored forever, entropy won’t allow this. Most if not all original compact discs are probably gone by now, and some end user burnables had even worse chemistry in their data layers than original prints.
Only actively making new copies of digital goods in new storage media regularly keeps those goods alive. We need new storage mediums that are resilient in the measure of centuries and not just a decade or so. We need commercial glass 3D optical storage now.
Data on a HDD or SSD (without DRM) is also physical media, and much more flexible. No need to expend more plastic locking data onto a dying format.
More like dead format. I haven’t had a dvd player in my home for over a decade
No game consoles? Everything from the PS2 and Xbox forward has the ability to play DVDs.
Blu Ray starting with the PS3 and Xbox One.
4K UHD starting with the Xbox One S and PS5.
What, PC’s with lock-in firmware? Thanks, no.
Nope. Only console I’ve bought in the last decade was the Switch and the Steam Deck. I did have an Xbox 360 but that was like 14 years ago now
I bet you still have an HDD or SSD somewhere though
Yeah, like a half dozen just lying around.
Not only a dead format, but a unstable shelf life format. CDs and DVDs were always marketed as storage for good. But technically that was never possible, not the way it was actually manufactured. The used plastics and metal laminates had a rough expected life of 15 years or thereabouts, at best. Obviously a massive increase from magnetic tapes that started degrading as soon as the recording stopped and got slowly more damaged the more you played them. But still not a permanent solution. No organized data is stored forever, entropy won’t allow this. Most if not all original compact discs are probably gone by now, and some end user burnables had even worse chemistry in their data layers than original prints.
Only actively making new copies of digital goods in new storage media regularly keeps those goods alive. We need new storage mediums that are resilient in the measure of centuries and not just a decade or so. We need commercial glass 3D optical storage now.