Is CD-R production losing ground over other forms of media?

Blank Media
#1

Considering the fact that DVDR’s are more discussed about around here and also more people are listening to mp3’s with iPod and various clones, what does the future hold for CD-R’s? I know that blank cassette production was still high even a few years into CD-R’s rise in popularity. Now, I hardly see blank tapes on shelves at local retail stores. I’m wondering if CD-R is now heading in this direction. Will iPod, DVDR and the like kill our interest in CD-R for the future? Or is this happening sooner than we realise? Or am I just dreaming this up? lol.

Oh yeah, one more question… Why did Mitsui sell off their production facility in 2003? Was it a decline in CD-R sales? Thanks.

#2

Not necessarily. As long as Taiyo Yuden, the grampa of CD recordable media still makes CD-R, it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, almost nobody uses Music DVDs :slight_smile:
Even with Blu-Ray introduced in local shops (discs, but no drives - they sell LG GSA-H10N (12x DVD-RAM) though but no 12x DVD-RAM media, go figure), it’s still unaffordable for most of us. DVD and CD will stay popular a long time, I believe :wink:

(I see lots of MIJ Sony and Panasonic Blu-Ray media on the shelves. I can imagine the day when 50 pieces of BD-R will be available for $15 and will be MIC, and we’ll be starting to complain about quality problems.)

With Google, I’ve only read that Mitsui made a “strategic decision” to withdraw, nothing more. :frowning:

#3

Production goes where the money “is”.

#4

People still use CD-Rs regularly in their car stereos…and for software CD-ROMs.

In fact, most people do.

I can’t see them dying down to be honest. In my opinion, I think there’s still a good few years left in the CD-R format.

#5

That’s definitely reassuring. I had always thought about the future of CD-R since DVD-R’s are now all the rage. Truthfully, having an iPod/mp3 player is nice and all, but I’d rather make mix CD’s. Then again, I’m probably showing my age since I go back to the days of tape dubbing. It’s amazing how fast technology is progressing these days.

As for Mitsui, they were always number one in my book. Now, TY’s hold that top rank. Hey, does anyone remember those custom music CD sites (MusicMaker.com, Imix.com, SuperSonicBoom.com, even Ktel.com)? I used to buy custom discs when that was the popular thing around 1999. All of those companies used Mitsui CD-R’s and the discs are all still playable.

#6

i agree with most of the comments above… i still think CD-R’s will be here atleast a few more years if not more … main reason is cause of “standard music cd’s” as i dont think they will ever completely die out, atleast not anytime in the forseeable future. cause i dont see them being replaced anytime soon… even though for general data backup dvd’s are clearly the best choice as even though they cost roughly double the price of a average cd-r, they hold roughly 6-7times more data on them so basically cd-r’s are obsolete when it comes to backing up computer data as dvd burners are pretty cheap and dvd-r/+r’s are pretty cheap now… so basically burning dvd’s is more cost efficient especially for data backup.

on a side note i still got about 90+ Mitsui CD-R’s (rated @ 24x burn speed) i bought on ebay back in 2001ish area and they still read perfectly fine (check my post in the mitsui forum for more info on disc quality if u care, disc was burned in 2002 and still reads back fine) … these are the cd-r’s i use for my long term storage.

also is it me or does the average cd-r seem to be better overall quality than the average dvd-r/+r is? … cause it seems mid-range or cheaper cd-r’s are much better than the mid-range or cheaper dvd’s u can buy.

#7

They still sell tape cassettes…for 40 years…CDs should be around for

at least as much…but something like a more durable flash memory type

media most likely will replace CD and DVDs, as memory for flash becomes more

larger…and longer lasting…

#8

i have a hard time believeing people who say that (nothing against you personally :wink: ) mainly cause of one thing and thats “cost” … i dont think Flash based media will ever be cheap enough to beat out standard disc based media… even if it was real reliable i still dont see it taking out disc based media anytime in the forseeable future.

#9

I think DVD is a good incentive over CD-R for the gaming and software industry.

In terms of cost of production it would cost LESS MONEY for a company to release their game or application software on 1 DVD than say 3 or 4 CDs. Even if there is only 2 CDs worth on the DVD, it would save a bundle of money (you have 1 DVD to print instead of 2, 3, 4 or whatever… You have 1 copy to duplicate instead of multiple CDs… The money saved is considerable. Given the fact DVD-ROM drives are dirt cheap and GIVEN practically there is no bloody excuse for people to upgrade :smiley:

I see more and more companies supply CDs or DVDs with their retail hardware as opposed to floppies…why? it is more economical.

MAXTOR for example, shipping with a CD which contains a few tools, tools that can fit maybe 2 floppies or more…

I would love to see all games and software shift towards DVD only - I mean the same way games are shifting towards DX9/DX10 only eventually, I mean we are talking about upgrading to a dirt cheap DVD ROM here not an entire PC upgrade, for crying out loud ! I would like to see the ENTIRE industry use DVDs… I think, in my opinion, that Cd-R production should be limited to AUDIO CD and that software distribution be delivered on DVD yes - yes - yes ! :smiley:

That’s my rant for today! ( I think :D)

#10

i tend to agree with what pretty much everything “greg42” said…

but already u can see more and more game developers switching to dvd format as most new games generally require higher end pc’s anyways so the odds of those pc’s having a dvd-rom type drive in them is really high… and for the pc’s that dont have a dvd-rom drive in them are usually to old to run the game anyways … i think for that reason alone is why u see more and more developers switching to dvd-rom drive only stuff.

plus not to mention it’s cheaper (like greg42 said) to put a game/software on 1 dvd vs multiple cd’s.

#11

I think that what might happen in the future (at least 3-5 years down the line) is that they simply stop producing the 80 minute, 700 Mb CD-Rs.

Remember a few years back, you could buy 74 minute, 650 Mb CD-Rs at practically every blank media retailer. Now where are they? Exactly.

I think that in the next 2-3 years, they’ll slowly start to produce more and more higher capacity CD-Rs (i.e. the 90 and 99 minute CD-Rs). Thus, removing the need for consumers to purchase the older, outdated CD-R (the 80 minute CD-R).

So for example, you could fit an entire 90 minute film onto one VCD as well as a 90 minute Audio CD.

I can definitely see more and more people buying higher capacity CD-Rs as it can provide significantly more flexibilty to the CD format.

#12

Well actually the 650MB/74 minutes discs are still available and are still in mass production.
The ones that indeed have gone from the normal market are the 71min ones but these are also still produced. The ones which really are gone are the 550MB CD-Rs.

#13

Oh really?

Care to tell me where I can buy 650 Mb CD-Rs in the UK?

#14

The only 650MB cds I can find are rewritables.

#15

There are e.g. these. but they are a bit expensive. :stuck_out_tongue:

ET

#16

…I remember when VHS tapes were $20.00 for 1 120 min.cassette.

I suspect flash will be the same as was blank CDs are now…

The demand is key…and if you have a bunch of companies that crank it

out, costs will go down…but it will take time…

Flash is the future… anything that can take up less space and hold huge

amounts of memory , that is extremely durable is what consumers want.

But I think we both agree that CD’s are gonna around for years…barring a

huge breakthough in flash technology.

#17

To Soneman… I’d say larger capacity CD-R’s will probably be the next step for retail displays. It’d be nice to see them on local shelves here. But I’m wondering if manufacturers are factoring the ability to record 90 plus minutes with future burners.

I haven’t tried it yet, but my current CD burners probably won’t record close enough to 90 minutes, unless if there’s firmware out there. So, buying 90 or 99 minute discs probably wouldn’t do me any good. What I’m getting at is that if longer CD-R’s are on more local retail shelves in the forseeable, there’d have to be more compatible burners available by the time it happens.

I’d love to see 90+ blank discs available around the corner from me. It’d be great to put together a very long “mix CD” for trips in the car. I’ll probably buy a pack on Ebay and see if one of my burners can complete a successful disc.

#18

To Koba… 71 minute blanks? Never seen one around here. I know 74 minute discs can still be bought online in the states.

I remember 550MB/60min CD-R’s. I saw one once sometime in 1996/97. It was a TDK blank in the tray of a professional (non-computer) studio CD recorder. I think the unit was going for $2,000 or more. I wanted to record CD’s so bad back then that I was thinking of buying it. I’m glad I didn’t. lol.

#19

I’m quite sure that my CD Rewriter can overburn to the full 90 minutes. I’ve successfully burnt 780 Mb Data CDs before which I’m guessing is close to the 90 minute mark if not past it.

However, I do think that my burner is not capable of burning 99 minute CD-Rs though as it’s a good few years old now.

#20

@ dec55 … it would be nice if you where right as i sure would not mind buying cheap reliable flash based media with capacitys as large as disc based media such as dvd-r’s (4.7gb) but i just dont see flash based memory being anywhere near cheap enough anytime in the forseeable future so thats a big reason why i dont think flash based media will replace disc based media anytime soon… cause sure i would luv to see flash based media thats really reliable and with big storage capacity (4.7GB+)… but i dont see any type of flash media getting 4.7GB at a 40cent price range anytime soon… especially if these new types of formats like blu-ray ever get super popular cause then flash media would have a LONG way to go to catch up to those storage capacity’s let alone bringing price range to something everyone can afford.

but u do have a good point on the “durrability” as they can be abused quite a bit more than a disc based media can which im sure is a huge plus with lots of people.

i hope im wrong but i seriously dont think i am… cause like i say i dont see it happening anytime in forseeable future (5years+) … although flash media keeps getting cheaper and cheaper it still aint anywhere near the cheapness of dvd-r/+r’s at similar storage capacity’s.

to everyone else thats saying 99 etc min cd-r’s will replace 80-min cd-r’s i dont see that happening either and thats cause of “compatibility” … cause (someone correct me if im wrong) not many burners as far as im aware of can burn those 90-99min cd-r’s and even if they can burn them, aint there a compatibility issue with playing them back on alot of audio cd players?.. if what i said is true, i highly doubt 80min cd-r’s will ever be replaced… so we will always have 80min cd-r’s for the standard in my opinion as there most likely always going to be needed for general audio cd players as i dont see those getting replaced anytime in the forseeable future.

and reason why 74min cd-r’s are pretty much dead (or atleast should be since there same price as 80min cd-r’s and cost the same) is cause there basically just worse than 80min cd’s as u get more storage and more minutes on them with pretty much the exact same compatibility so theres no drawbacks to using 80min cd-r’s over 74min ones so thats probably why no one really buys them anymore :wink: