
New, Flexible CDs Arrive 332
Mortin writes "A company called Flexstorm has developed a new type of CD, dubbed flexCD, that is about 140 microns thick, 1/10th that of a normal CD, and most importantly flexible. The technical specs on this new technology are quite impressive, boasting a weight of only .6 grams on the flexCD 80. Producing a flexCD also only takes .3 seconds, less than that of a normal CD."
Let me get this straight... (Score:2)
So the disks must be the razor.
OTOH if these were availavle as CDR/RW it might make storage easier if you can reuse the adapters or get a drive that plays them natively.
Best of all (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Best of all (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Best of all (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think that's such a good idea. Anybody with special equipment could probably read whatever's left of the tracks on the shards of CD. One shard could hold many kilobytes of contiguous data; even entire documents.
Shredding a CD is kind of like printing all of your documents onto a single mile-long roll of paper, then slicing the paper into 1-foot long pieces. You could get a lot of info off of any one chunk.
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Possibly: a microscope, a digital camera, and a relatively simple image processing program.
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Once the CD is shredded the data is gone. Finis.
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Why not? All you have to do is identify the edges of the pits and record the distance between them. Apply the CD decoding standard to the results and out comes the data.
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Then you obviously need to go back and read more about CD-ROM. CDs are not like a tape/floppy/hdd where the data is stored as invisible patterns and read-write is done with a magnet. They are read _and_ written with a laser, meaning that under heavy magnification, perhaps with the right lighting equipment the data is visible (although not necessarily to the naked eye). It would not be easy, it would not be cheap, but it's quite feasible.
And of course given that CD-ROMS are a known non-square shape and one side is different from the other, even a perfextly symmetrical shred only reduces each shard to two possible positions...
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
Then you just give them an excuse to use their time machine to travel back to the point you were about to destroy the CD! They'll either shoot you or arrest you for "Almost destroying the evidence."
A Black hole generator is the only good way to destroy a CD. Prevents time travel in the area.
Re:Best of all (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Best of all (Score:2)
greeeat (Score:2)
cd's in printed materials (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
This new CD technology would allow this to happen once again.
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:4, Informative)
I'm old enough to remember when some books and magazines included analog records printed on sheets of plastic
"Sound Sheets", they were called.
Memories:
I remember as a kid, when Pierre Elliot Trudeau did that big constitution thing with the queen back in 1981, the newspaper came with Sound Sheets of the Canadian national anthem. Somewhere, I still have that and a few other sound sheets.
One of them is a little mutilated. At the ripe old age of 7, I *had* to know what would happen if I put it onto the old BSR record changer.
And now, it's consoling that a new generation shall know the horror.
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
--
Evan
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
Billy and the Boingers Bootleg...still have mine, but I haven't had access to a turntable since '92. The track names you want to locate are "I'm A Boinger" and "U-Stink-But-I--U." (Hmm..Konqueror doesn't want to render the heart character. Maybe IE will.)
Maybe it's time to see what's available cheap at the local used-stereo-gear shop...
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2, Interesting)
see http://www.eva-tone.com/about_news.asp?Action=Read &NewsID=26 [eva-tone.com]
-aaron
Soundsheet "Records" (Score:2)
Yep, Eva-Tone made them, they stopped making them about a year ago...
A year ago?
Jeez, who was buying them a year ago?
That's incredible. I'd assumed they were as far back in the past as the double-chamber McDLT styrofoam box (keeps the hot side hot and the cold side cold...).
Re:Soundsheet "Records" (Score:2)
OTOH
I am still wishing that they would go back to that.
/me looks up and realises that this sounds like a flame. I did not mean it that way I was just stating the truth and let out a little venom at the anti-carcass people.
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
Re:cd's in printed materials (Score:2)
And they came in a mag called Flexipop [geocities.com].
But they were around long before that.
The first recorded object I ever owned was a square flexi, and that was in 1968, before Flexipop even got the idea.
--Blair
It's for sticking in magazines... (Score:3, Informative)
An adaptor? (Score:5, Insightful)
If they're pushing this as a supplement to advertisements (distribution via mail, magazine, what have you), how are they going to get the adapters to people? How are they going to overcome the barrier of getting people to actually use the adapters?
Seems like there's a bit of a bottleneck in this biz plan.
Re:An adaptor? (Score:2)
Re:An adaptor? (Score:4, Funny)
Not for today's drives; think next-gen cdroms (Score:3, Insightful)
when cdrw came out, no cdroms could read them. soon after, ALL cdroms could read them. similarly with this (if it flies, and it should); cdrom/dvdrom and writers released after some date in the future will all be able to read this new technology, and at that point, you'll see flexible cds in the mail and in your cereal boxes.
problem is getting this standardized and implemented into future drives.
Re:An adaptor? (Score:2)
Re:An adaptor? (Score:2, Funny)
How the adaptor works (probably!) (Score:2)
A regular CD consists of a reflective data layer (aluminium in the case of a "pressed" CD) protected on the top by 10-20 microns of lacquer and on the bottom, by 1.2mm of polycarbonate. CD drives are therefore designed so that the laser focussing system takes the refractive index of polycarbonate into account: the laser is only in focus if the CD has an optical depth of 1.2mm*1.55 (the refractive index, N, of polycarbonate) = 1.86mm.
If these FlexCDs are 1/10 of the thickness of a regular CD, then either they have to be made of a material with a refractive index ten times larger than that of polycarbonate (show me one!) or they need to use an adaptor (a "spacer" of some kind, perhaps just a disc of transparent plastic!) to keep the data layer at the laser's nominal focus.
new meaning (Score:2)
Re:new meaning (Score:2)
Re:new meaning (Score:2)
Re:new meaning (Score:3, Funny)
/me laughs at all the little 3.5 and 5 inchers.
Tim
Why this will fail (Score:3, Insightful)
Who remembers CD caddies? And how much you hated them? Why would you want to go back to that?
And for non-technical people (the ones that can't set the time on their VCR), they're not going to be able to figure out how to use the adapter and will likely end up destroying their CD players, particularly if they try it with a slot-loading one.
Sure, it will be great for people who like the CD inserts in magazines, and may be the best thing in the world for them, but I've yet to find an insert that would make me want to keep around an extra caddy just so I could play it. But then again, it would be nice to be able to fold up a CD and stick in an envelope instead of buying the special CD protective packages, so it might work.
Oh, and what do those naked men have to do with CDs?
Re:Why this will fail (Score:4, Insightful)
Try giving games to 3 year olds and see how long the CDs last. Then put them in caddies and see how long they last (hint: case 1, about 3 days, case 2, 6 years and counting).
Re:Why this will fail (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why this will fail (Score:2)
Re:Why this will fail (Score:2)
Caddies made sense if you had several and you needed to switch CDs in your drive frequently. With six caddies, you could put each of your five most frequently used CDs in its own caddy. Then, when you want to change, you eject one caddy and slap another in. No opening jewelboxes, no delicately handlind a CD by the edge, no carefully placing it in a tray. Just eject and insert. Simple as a floppy. And back in the days when a 100Mb hard drive was considered big, people did a lot of CD-swapping.
The problem is that the drive manufacturers decided to shave a few bucks off the price of a drive by only including one caddy with the drive. Thus, instead of making things easier, the single caddy actually made things harder, because in addition to opening the jewelbox, etc, you now had to open the caddy each time and gingerly insert the CD. No surprise that people jumped at motorized trays when they finally appeared.
Nowadays, of course, hard drives can hold a hundred CDs worth of data on them, so no one needs to swap CDs much anymore.
TheFrood
What's the point? (Score:2, Insightful)
If I do got one of these in the mail, I'll need the adapter. I don't have one (like most people), so they would need to send me one in the package.
Guess what: the package is no longer thinner nor lighter than a regular disc, and it isn't flexable.
Seems like a stupid idea to me.
Re:What's the point? (Score:3, Insightful)
Needs an "adapter" (Score:2, Insightful)
toxic data? (Score:3, Funny)
Holy crap! You mean I should have been washing my hands after using rigid discs?
Re:toxic data? (Score:2)
Why would you want to do this? (Score:2)
Re:Why would you want to do this? (Score:2)
Dude. I ALWAYS think that. Except for the edibility factor, meat is just not that appealing to consumers. Now, if it came with a "Beef. It's What's For Dinner" Flash animation on a CD, I would be all over it.
Re:Why would you want to do this? (Score:2)
These aren't aimed at the consumer. They are aimed at the promotions industry.
Floppy CDs. (Score:2)
thin and flexible is great but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:thin and flexible is great but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:thin and flexible is great but... (Score:2)
Gad...I didn't think people did all that physical manipulation of AOL CDs anymore. I thought we'd all switched to watching the lovely "light show" produced by placing the little guys in our microwaves and letting rip.
The light show is less work and is purty to boot. Why waste time physically manhandling them?
Re:thin and flexible is great but... (Score:2)
--
Evan
Re:thin and flexible is great but... (Score:2)
The flexible CDs also use a very thin layer of sprayed-on laquer.
I submit, thus, that these flexible CDs are as at least as impervious to harm their fragile grandparents, bit-rot and aluminum-eating microbes included.
Oh no... (Score:2, Interesting)
flexMail allows you to target your markets selectively, personally, and flexibly, combining our flexible media with traditional direct mail services.
Tis spells more spam to me, so I'm not really sure I'm happy. Also, as a sysadmin I wouldn't want to go again thru "don't run magazine cds" for the people (obviously this is not the cd they were tought to handle
Expected Lifetime of CD? (Score:2)
I'm guessing since the CD is made of more flexible material (and a polymer, which is organic), so it may be able to break down easier/quicker.
Jar Openers (Score:5, Funny)
CDs are already the perfect media shape (Score:2)
Re:CDs are already the perfect media shape (Score:2)
I usually carry a few CDRs full of MP3s in my laptop bag. On one occasion, I went to pull one out of the bag, and it had actually broken in half. I've also had some scratched, jewel cases cracked etc. It seems to me that a CD that was more resilient would be a good thing in some ways.
It should be noted that I don't treat my original CDs like I treat my copies. It costs me $0.50 and 20 minutes to make a new CDR copy, but $18 (+tax) for a new original.
Frisbees (Score:2, Funny)
Flexibility over Practicality (Score:5, Interesting)
I really like the tape format, and I enjoy the mini disc (MD) style, allowing me to throw medium on the desk without caring if it will get scratched. The MD format is almost perfect for me. It's smaller than CDs and fit in backpacks. It's too bad that it hasn't become more popular with increase storage and broader adoption by computer manufacturers.
PPA, the girl next door.
Re:Flexibility over Practicality (Score:2)
What goes around... (Score:2)
(get it? What goes around...)
Sorry..
Re:What goes around... (Score:2)
The amusing side-effect of this was that most of my classmates could sing the McDonald's menu. This is as far as I got:
"Big Mac, McDLT, a Quarter Pounder with some cheese, Filet of Fish, a Hamburger, A Cheeseburger, a Happy Meal, Crispy Golden Fries, large or regular size..."
It bugs me that an ad campaign that many years ago has me retaining that much information from it.
Re:What goes around... (Score:2)
Fillet-o-Fish, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a Happy Meal
Mcnuggets, tasty golden french fries, regular and larger size
And salads, chef or garden, or a chicken salad oriental
Big Big Breakfast, Egg Mcmuffin, hot hotcakes and sausage
Maybe biscuits, bacon, egg and cheese and sausage, danish, hashbrown too
and for dessert hot apple pies and sundaes three varieties
A soft serve cone, three kinds of shakes, and chocolately-chip cookies
And to drink a Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, an orange drink, a Sprite,
A coffee (decaf too) a lowfat milk also an orange juice
I love Mcdonald's good time great taste
And I get this all at one place!
The good time, great taste... of McDonald's...
ugh.
This is no good for consumers (Score:3, Interesting)
Lightweight means portable (Score:2)
folio which is packed. I have to carry this 10-lb
bag with me across the country all too often. A
recordable flexible DVD folio with the same data
would come in closer to 1/2 pound, and tuck into
my laptop case. I'm hoping this progresses to
DVD recordable in short order!
Re:Lightweight means portable (Score:2)
Tim
Performance at high RPM? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Performance at high RPM? (Score:2)
I think the issue is not so much if there's an imbalance in the disc to begin with, but that the centrifugal force at high rotational speeds is enough in itself to warp the disk. IIRC, when the CD was introduced, Philips estimated the maximum speed at something like 48X. This has turned out to be pretty accurate - note that today's CDROMs have only been able to significantly break this barrier by using multi-beam heads at lower rotational speeds. I have to admit though - I don't know if they did that just to reduce noise/wear/cost, or whether it was due to the mechanical limits of the CD.
A working link... (Score:2)
homecd (Score:2, Interesting)
Flatness? (Score:2)
Re:Flatness? (Score:2)
How about using one of those clear bulk CDR protectors (basically CD disks with no media layer) on either side, and i fneeded a bit of stickum in the middle to hold 'em together?
specs converted from pdf to html (Score:4, Informative)
here's the specs in html [adobe.com].
basically, there are two flexCDs, named 80 and 120 for their sizes in milimeters. The 8cm disk holds 200mb and the 12cm disk holds an unspecified amount (hopefully 702mb). each disk is 1/10th the thickness of a cd. standard minicd is 8cm and standard cd is 12cm. a 3.5" floppy is 9cm x 9.4cm.
the adapter has two parts which sandwich the flexCD and go in the non-supporting cdrom drive.
Serious benfits? (Score:2, Interesting)
aside from frisbee related injuries, i cant see any benifit, just as i couldnt see any point to flexible keyboards (i never had a wobbly desk, and if i did, id take a power sander to it)
Doesn't "Flexible" Mean "Easier to Scratch"? (Score:2)
BlackGriffen
Now here's a test of motive (Score:2)
One wonders the extent to which they will try and engineer the requirement for the addapter into the system, if homebrew adapters (even if the above idea wont work) are frowned upon then we know for which side of that fence the system is designed.
Personally I reckon they'ed be happy if they could get it to work adapter free, we shall have to wait and see.
DRM included. (Score:2, Insightful)
flexRights
An innovative solution that allows content owners to offer a "test drive" of their premium content to the market for a limited time. New markets will benefit greatly from this service. A music company can "give" a customer an entire CD of a chart- topping artist for a week. After that week, the digital encryption technology "locks" the music, leaving the consumer with the choice of going online to pay and "unlock" the music, or purchasing the rigid CD from the store. flexRights can also be used with Video and software content.
Archive Performance Ratios (Score:3, Insightful)
It would be interesting to know how this technology compares in terms of
Perhaps the biggest drawback may be sheer capacity. I swear that a 600 MB CD is getting to be as useless as a 1.44 MB floppy relative to how much data needs to be archived.
Re:Car (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Have your data and eat it too (Score:2, Insightful)
For example, various cerial companies have been shipping CDs in their boxes. These CDs have various games and the like coupled with ads for to try and market further to the children. I'm sure they would be a large potential market for this product.
Just like the cereal I grew up with... (Score:2)
Also, how will the CD player handle the penny that needs to be placed on the special spot to allow the media to spin properly
Re:Have your data and eat it too (Score:3, Funny)
A little bit odd, don't you think?
Not at all! Finally, a cure for world hunger! We can just ship third-world countries our never-ending supply AOL-CDs!
Mmm... CD-PB&J sandwich. For those who prefer wheat, CD-R-PB&J.
Microwavable? (Score:2)
does this mean that we can microwave these new disks and upon opening the microwave door we won't have that horrid stench?
if you don't know what i'm talking about, obviously you've never owned a microwave. (tips for newbies: only a few seconds are needed, do it atop a paper towel, and watch out for the fumes.)
Re:Microwavable? (Score:2)
Indeed. Leaving it longer does not really prolong the fun (there is only one brief flash of lightning anyways), but it might spew out tiny glass shards all over your microwave oven...
Finally, a use for AOL CDs? (Score:2, Funny)
Now, if they can make one that is absorbant as well, we'll be able to save some money and use those damned AOL CDs to wipe our butts.
Re:WHY? (Score:2)
So what do you want here? A sidebar on all articles that says "YOU WILL CARE ABOUT THIS BECAUSE:
Re:WHY? (Score:2)
Re:WHY? (Score:2)
I see what you're saying, but what I've read so far says that they're not so interested in putting out flexible CDR's.
If you'd like a list of how these things would be useful to you, I can provide that:
- When you buy a PC Gamer, the chances of having a broken disk are a lot smaller
- You can put many more flexible CD's in a binder than you could with regular CD's. In theory, they'd be safer.
- It'd be easier to take your music collection on Vactation. I'm travelling overseas soon, and my solution was to buy an MP3-CD Player to listen to all my music. Flexible CD's would have meant I could have fit a lot more music CD's in my bag.
As for what's wrong with regular CD's, they're too big and they're somewhat easy to break. Though I cannot say I've actually broken one on accident, I do treat them more carefully than I'd like.
Re:So... (Score:2, Informative)
Not that this actually applies; the disk itself would be safely tucked between rigid sheets, and the lens is (hopefully) a safe distance from the CD itself.
Re:So... (Score:2)
Try reading the "article" (it's just the company's website). The floppy disk goes in an "adapter", a rigid plastic case that's like a real CD. The dent would be enclosed in the adapter, so unless you had a damaged adapter, that wouldn't happen.
Re:So... (Score:2)
Re:So... (Score:2)
I hate to say it, but it looks like that morons are winning the battle for Slashdot :-(
Re:Fantastic! (Score:3, Funny)
From the site [bigpants4u.com]):
In a way, these are scratch-proof (Score:3, Insightful)
When are we going to see scratch-proof cds ?
With these new floppy discs, if you scratch the thing, you probably just scratch the medium, and the underlying flexible medium has not been scratched. Because producing and selling adapters costs less than producing and selling an album, you can just shell out a couple bucks for a new adapter if yours gets scratched.
It's like Circuit City DIVX for CDs (Score:2)
That doesn't sound like something the RIAA would like to have around to me.
The "Products" section of the web site mentions an application remarkably similar to Circuit City DIVX:
So what do you get when you combine flexRights with video content in MPEG-4 format? You get DivX DIVX :-)
Re:How will it read? (Score:2)
Re:Storage? (Score:2)
Normal CD-ROMs are about 12 cm in diameter, corresponding to the flexCD 120 instead. Data capacity for the flexCD 120 isn't listed, but we can safely assume that it's equivilent to that of an ordinary CD-ROM.