Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?

[saraphen]

Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime.

"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke says. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2006...BhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

That's too bad. I called myself archiving a bunch of digital photos to a CD. Now I have to do it all over again.

[jamesfrmphilly]

this is not true.
i have never had a burned Cd fail nor have i ever heard or read about one failing.
there is no reason for them to fail.

magnetic media would stand a much better chance of failure than optical.

[saraphen]

Hubster used to make copies of all his favorite CDs to take with him on roadtrips. They started to fail after 3-4 years. We thought it might have been the extreme temperatures in the car, or maybe the stick-on labels he put on. I've read some bad news about the glue in labels ruining your content too.

Anyway, now we use digital players on the road, so we don't copy music CDs much. But I am concerned about my archived stuff.

[DBlack]

I've had this problem, albeit rare, with older CD's. As media manufacturing and density increases, their shelf lives will be extended. Years ago CD's had a much smaller shelf life, manufactures just don't admit it.

[goodcookinmama]

this is news to me i thought that once you made them that they last

[jamesfrmphilly]

Originally Posted by saraphen

Anyway, now we use digital players on the road, so we don't copy music CDs much. But I am concerned about my archived stuff.

don't be...............