There has been a lot of discussion all over the place about the life span of your typical CDR. It’s important to genealogists, because we store our data on them, we use them to distribute data to others, we use them as backups, etc. etc.
So just how long do they last? A few weeks ago PC World carried a story of an expert that made the case for a short life span for burned CDs. Now they are carrying a response from some manufacturers, namely TDK and Memorex. TDK says that if properly cared for, it’s products will last upto 70 years. A General Manager for TDK did stress that a controlled room temperature was important.
Keep in mind we are talking CDRs – most people, including those interviewed in the above article recommend against CDRWs.
Memorex is preparing a new product lineup, to be launched in April, called the Pro Gold Archival Media series (CD-Rs and DVD-Rs), that has some pretty beefy claims, including upto 300 years for CDS. No word on prices, but I’m sure many genealogists will be interested to see that lineup once it hits store shelves. We, of all people, realize how important data retention is.
Excerpt from the article:
The vendor claims that a 24-karat gold reflective layer, high-performance dye and a scratch-resistant technology will give the new product up to six times longer life than traditional media. Memorex claims a CD archival life of up to 300 years and a DVD archival life of up to 100 years.
“Laboratory tests prove Memorex Pro Gold Media to be resistant to the effects of rapid, artificial ageing such as ultraviolet light, heat and humidity exposure thanks in part to gold’s inert characteristics that prevent oxidation, a common cause of failure for most recordable media during long-term storage,” the company says in a press release announcing the upcoming products.