Cranberry DiamonDisc: the $35 DVD that'll last longer than your ghost
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 14th 2009 11:40AM
posted Nov 14th 2009 11:40AM
We've seen outfit after outfit trumpet their long-lasting optical storage wares before, but Cranberry seems different. Rather than promising that whatever miracle they've just unearthed will be available "in the very near future," this company is selling its wonder product right now. The so-called DiamonDisc -- which is reportedly constructed from "diamond-hard stone" -- is designed to store precious memories for 1,000 years or more, and it's even built to withstand "temperatures extending up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit as well as UV rays that would destroy conventional DVD discs." Unfortunately, each disc holds just 4.7GB of information, and each one will run you $34.95 if purchased individually. Oh, and it's only playable on "most" regular DVD drives, so across-the-board compatibility seems less than likely. The more we think about it, the more sense that whole "just carve it into stone for future generations to see" mantra makes. Kudos, cavemen.
I doubt people would still use CD's 1000 years later.
*DVDs :/
Sure they will. For instance, we're still using 5 and a quarter floppy disks that were popular 20 years ago.
... oh wait.
1000 years may not be useful, but getting more than the 2-3 years some of my DVD-Rs last would be nice. Seriously, how come every new format seems rock solid at the time but turns to dust after a ridiculously short time? Remember when floppy disks were considered viable storage means? Now a floppy will corrupt just by looking at it.
I'm sure no one will have a DVD drive in even 20 years, but by then scanners (or whatever replaces them) will probably be able to read a dvd by imaging it.
If you have something that needs to kept for this long. The technology or know-how will remain, so you could feasibly build a dvd reader to access it. Or you could just move the data to whatever new tech they come out with as it happens.
lets wait after 2012...
Although we still are using paper thousands of years later
I doubt people will be using DVDs 10years from now...
@Paul Maddox/Others with similar complaints
You need to stop using shit quality discs. Taiyo Yuden is what you need. I usually get them from supermediastore.com (it's not my site I'm not advertising calm down)
Like anyone could get their money back if the DVDs only last 500 years. Most of the media I've had lasted far longer than the playback devices themselves. Any serious breakthrough in recordable devices will make old media obsolete along with older recordable devices. In 50 years, there is no way you're going to lay your hands on some old recording device unless you've stored it away in a vault along with a computer to play it back.
"i dont know what it is about cranberry but it's gettin in all the other juices." it seems its also in dvd's as well...
Wow...
Your handle is so huge its not even funny,
FAIL
That's what she said?
really now
ill just put my discs into a hefty bag.
Archiving has moved past optical media because of it's earlier limitations. Now that bandwidth and hard drive storage are cheap, automatic remote backups are the simplest way to go rather than trying to catalog hundreds or thousands of these discs. Considering it requires it's own special burner I don't see it being useful outside of professional level settings ever anyway.
The drive only costs $4995. No I didn't forget a decimal. That is a small price to pay to talk to the world of tomorrowwwwwwww!
Even still, it is a good deal because they give you 150 Cranberry discs plus the drive. But, like Arthur said, these discs work in most DVD drives.
Do the math. 5,000 / $150 = $33.33333
So it's like buying 150 discs and almost getting the drive for free.
If you actually go their site, they're not very interested in selling the drives. (Yes, you can buy one for $5000 but really...) They want to sell you service. You send them a burned DVD and $30 and they'll return to you a disc that will last much, much longer. Seems like a pretty good idea to me.
When my grandfather died, we found reel-to-reel tapes that he made during WWII. It wasn't hard to find a reel-to-reel player on eBay so that we could play them again. People claiming that DVDs won't be around in 50 years are just wrong. (Barring total thermonuclear annihilation.) They might not be available at Best Buy then, but there is just too much media out there to assume it's going to go away. I found this in ten seconds, and there were a hell of a lot less 8" floppies than there are DVD's.
http://cgi.ebay.com/IMSAI-8080-COMPUTER-AND-DUAL-8-FLOPPY-DISK-DRIVE_W0QQitemZ230399405058QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a4dfec02
Sorry for those of you about to call BS... the recordings were from the Korean War, not WWII. :) First commercial reel-to-reel recorders weren't sold until the late 1940's. It would have been a good catch, though. :)
It can be done... I have 8mm and 16mm silent (but color) moving picture film from the early 30's, some Super-8mm from the 60's and still can be watched just fine. Projectors can be found on ebay as can the bulbs. Yes, that's only 70 years, but still!
I assume he's talking audio on magnetic tape, not film.
Would you mind sharing those WWII reels with us on youtube? I love watching them and am always trying to learn personal accounts of the war.
According to the description on ebay, the floppy drive is broken as of 8/85, which I'm assuming is referring to 1985.
An old reel-to-reel player and especially a film projector, are much more 'robust' than modern electronics, and it's much less likely that the laser on a doovde player will still be aligned and focused after 50 years or so. A magnetic tape head isn't nearly as fragile or difficult to reproduce, and I'm pretty sure we will always have a light source to shine through film.
That said, I don't think Sony is ever going to stop making the ps2, so it's a nonissue.
Screw optical media where's my holocron?
Screw holocron, where's my holopron?
Screw holopron, where is my holophonor!
it's prawn technology!!!
Unfortunately, Buddhism tells us that nothing is permanent. You can make these discs last a long time, but they sure as hell won't last forever!
Thats kinda why their rated for 1000 years and not forever...
Unfortunately, logic tells us that religion is wrong. Religions have lasted a long time, but they sure as hell aren't true!
Actually it has been researched and all the long lasting religons have the same core elements. Cults on the other hand alter these core elements and tend not to last.
So while it may be said that cults and religions aren't true, the core elements underpinning religions are truths, planet wide ones. They certainly have been co-opted to suit the establishment and to control. Faith though links to those core elements without the need for organisation to support it.
Faith, religion, cult
which is about as far off topic as can be had
Thi thing only stands 176 degrees Fahrenheit.
Considering the pace of global warming, I don't know if they'll be suitable for the year 3000... :-P
There are only three proven methods for storing and transmitting data more than 1000 years into the future. They are clay/stone tablets, large stacked stones, and large mounds of dirt. Unfortunately, none are suitable for 4.7 GB of data.
Styrofoam doesn't decompose.
LET'S CARVE 4.7GB OF DATA IN GIANT BLOCKS OF STYROFOAM, PYRAMID STYLE.
You can just emit your data via radio waves into space, I'm pretty sure we'll have some form of hyperdrive/warpdrive/whatever-faster-than-light in 1000 years, so you can just catch up to your waves...
I want my jet pack
Is it made of diamondium or diamondillium?
I think it's titbon.
explodium
WERNSTROM!
I think they should make BD-R's
****Call now within the next 15 minutes and we'll throw in an additional 1,000 years absoultly free****
So I don't really need such disks...Maybe they are specially for different archives and libraries but not for me.As for me,the best disks are Blue-Ray ones.
Now only if they made indestructible floppy discs...
They should have released this ten years ago. Then you could have a backup that could last at least a decade. They should be producing indestructable BD-R's as well.
Surely the only "diamond-hard stone" is diamond?