Date   : Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:57:13 +0100
From   : darren.grant@... (Darren Grant)
Subject: Domesday Preservation

On 29/04/2009 13:36, "Jules Richardson" <jules.richardson99@...>
wrote:

> 
> To be honest, I suspect it'll turn out to be superior to CDROM / DVD in terms
> of longevity - the problem is just that consumers abandoned it in favour of
> something more compact, and it's hard to get reliable players now.
>
In a way yes because the LaserDiscs were proper commercially made pressings
rather than burnt CD/DVD-R so they will outlast writable media, I have many
CD-R's that have aged over the years and now don't work so I hope people
aren't relying on long term storage of CD/DVD-R. I expect however that
proper CD's will last just as long as the LaserDiscs.

I think there are a number of reasons why LaserDisc failed.
The first was that the price of the equipment was so high aimed at
specialist markets where as CD Audio became increasingly cheap. Once it
became practical to store images digitally and display them on a computer
someone realised that you could use cheaper CD hardware. Consumers favoured
the smaller, single sided media and the CD drive could fit inside the
computer. Where as Philips were the only ones behind LV-ROM a number of
companies got behind the CD-ROM standard.