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Let us discuss this shall we?

• Could this make some other mediums obsolete?
• How might this affect prices of HDD/SD/USB/DVD/Blu-Ray?
• Other than simple data storage/backups, what use could this medium hold? Too large for games and software?
• How might a 320GB optical disc be priced?

I don't see this coming for quite some time, as I don't really see a market for it yet. Current Blu-Ray has a high enough capacity for pretty much everything from games to software to data storage/backups to super high def movies. Unless the medium is RW it's pretty much a waste of money, because what if you get a coaster? Oops, bad burn, there goes another $200(?) out the window? I say develop a technology similar to this disc to create a smaller optical disc (size of a large coin) with a large capacity and try making the hardware that uses it smaller. A physical replacement for the music CD. Sure, digital audio is the future but I will always believe in having the option to have a physical medium... Only good I can see coming from a super capacity Blu-Ray disc is maybe bringing down the prices of other mediums, such as the still overpriced DVD+/-R DL discs.

I just remember reading somewhere something about protein coated discs or something... that could theoretically hold 50TB on a CD sized disc... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein-coated_disc ... also there are other mediums being developed of course, like HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc) and 3D Optical Data Storage, all promising TB-level capacity. Hmmm....

I think I saw a 27 layer disc a while back in some laboratory situation. The problem with such dense layers (even though blu-ray uses the shorter wavelength) is that there can still be read and write errors. This leads to making coasters; you and I have done it with CD's and even DVD's. While the prices have come down considerably, most people still aren't even willing to pay over a dollar a disk, they'd rather just pay $50 once and use their 30gig thumb drive over and over. A 320gb disc would have extremely low production numbers and would be far too expensive for most consumers.

It would be very nice to use these as a backup medium for archival use. And thats about the only use I can think of. They're more reliable than a hard drive and arguably more portable. However would you be willing to risk a scratch and lose over 300gigs of data?

Without getting too far into the future with holographic or other 3d storage, I think flash memory will gain more momentum as prices drop. For about $3 a gig, you can get a 30gig flash drive (bigger than bluray) to write, rewrite, erase, and plug into nearly anything for many years to come. Even a $15 4gb thumb drive can hold a couple high def rips, and a couple gigs of songs which you could watch a movie on your home theater, and then take it to your car and listen to music while later that day putting your office document and google map directions on it and never have to wait (long) to load something onto a portable storage device.

I would even go farther to say that SSD's will catch up in size (they're already there) and come down in price when production ramps up to beat the monster storage disks. SSDs are portable and durable enough to use as pocket storage devices now, and with the upcoming USB3.0 and SATA6 interfaces about to emerge, you'll be able to move files over faster than any disk can burn and still rival its size. Current 256gb SSDs on newegg are above $600 but I would still argue that they are faster, more versatile interface, and more durable.

The current spin-speeds of CD/DVDs are at the physical limit of the plastic disc, I believe, so the only way to make them faster and bigger is by increasing the density and layers. The price of BluRay burners is still very high (around 175€), and with SolidStatsDisks quickly becoming bigger, more dependable, and cheaper, I wouldn't bet my money on plastic discs anymore either

As you pointed out with the protein thing: I also think the merger of organics into electronics is going to be the next big thing. TV already has that with OLED TVs, and I expect more of that stuff will follow

I also believe that its a bit like the "mini disc" and "betamax"


Great ideas that will die a death,

Who needs a 320GB disc? It would take an absolute age to back up any data!

I recall there have been problems moving between layers in the read and write processes for multi-layered discs, some taking minutes just to change layers. If such discs were to be writable at the consumer level, it would most likely be based on the same ink-impregnated plastic as the current technology. The ink has a definite lifespan and can degrade rapidly under the proper conditions. Such a product may not be feasible at an economic level, but more for the sake of science. Having a pressed disc of that capacity would be considerably more time consuming than the current dual-layer DVDs and therefore increase the cost of production. I am going to assume the discs are still made of polycarbonate. If the drive speed was increased, the discs would most likely need at least to be thicker to account for centrifugal forces to minimize distortion while reading and writing. A protein coated disc would work well for archiving, but protein structurea are susceptible to a wide variety of degrading factors. Essentially, the bugs need to be worked out. Time will tell.

i think that until this optical storage is more reliable than tape, there is no need to keep advancing it's storage size, make it last years in standard storage (read: jewel or hard case, not a sleeve) and then i would definitely buy into 320gb optical discs

of course this all goes into that they would be RW like a tape drive is

320 gigs..Great for a archive. But as mentioned : costs of empty media will be through the roof. Then there is that the burning proces can go bad.Good by disk, it might get scratched goodbye data. But also mentioned before Blu-rays read slow, so how slow would this little toy be. And i don't even want to think about writing times..Maybe 24 hours? power cut? Ooops.

I agree. They should not release a bigger Blu-ray disc, because as is the capacity is high and can fit nearly everything
Once the prices of these "new" technologies go down then they can move forward developing their format or make a new one for consumers.