Burned cd media only lasts 5 years?

[ZetaVu]

Here's an interesting article that made the rounds yesterday (slashdot story so you can see the discussion) http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardwar.../1447213.shtml Apparently this 50-100 year lifespan we've been hearing about was a bit misleading, either that or this guy has vested interest in magnetic tapes. A good reminder to make fresh copies of your backups and long term storage every couple years. I don't know if I buy it though, my disks from 1999 (first burner) still work fine. In fact, vhs tapes were only supposed to last 10 yrs, but I've got home mobies from 1989 that play as if they were brand new. (I had of course converted them to dvd, so they would last longer

[tenax]

i've seen burned discs go within 5 years if left in the sun..the ultraviolet's a killer..but i have cd's much older than that always kept in a darker area in case that still work fine

[SHS]

That the key thing keep them in darker area case I some that all must 10 years old and they still work just fine.

[ZetaVu]

I've tested my media as far back as 2000 (when I started burning) and none have errors, if I recall cd burners started coming out in 98, 99? Funny how this article puts the expected lifespan at a time where it is really difficult to measure.

[SHS]

It may supize you ZetaVu but it made available 1988 in fact Yamaha introduced the first CD recording system for mastering purposes but general public it really didn't take off in tell after 1996 with unleashing of 4x burner

[ZetaVu]

Actually in 1999 I got my first cd burner, it was an Hp state of the art (still have it) HP 7200i that recorded a whopping 2x. It still works believe it or not, for anyone with half an hour to record a cd. I'm not sure when it was introduced, but in 1999 it was still pretty new. Media sold for 7-10 bucks a cd at the time. I would not equate that media to anything you see today of course, and I wonder if one of my 7 yr old 2x media will last longer than a 32x nickel cd I burn today?

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by ZetaVu

Actually in 1999 I got my first cd burner, it was an Hp state of the art (still have it) HP 7200i that recorded a whopping 2x. It still works believe it or not, for anyone with half an hour to record a cd. I'm not sure when it was introduced, but in 1999 it was still pretty new. Media sold for 7-10 bucks a cd at the time. I would not equate that media to anything you see today of course, and I wonder if one of my 7 yr old 2x media will last longer than a 32x nickel cd I burn today?

I'm still using it - mostly as a cd/dvd player. I haven't burned anything on it in a long time.

[RiderFan]

I put mine in my parents PC that I made for them. I don't even think it was 2X...I paid $400 for it too! LOL! It works fine and I don't even think that my parents know that they even have a burner.