For another take on this (from the business end, primarily,) see Sean M. Dugan's article in this week's InfoWorld: http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/02/14/000214opprophet.xml On Wed, 16 Feb 2000 00:56:57 -0500, Glenn Cole <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Wondering what will come after DVD? >Perhaps "FMD-ROM," and maybe even sooner than you think. > >I read a convincing (to me) argument recently about why the DVD format >is dead. Sure, it's nice that it stores 4GB of data instead of 660MB, >but the business model for the format is based on selling licenses for >DVD players. (The discs themselves are not copy-protected, but the blank >media is more expensive than a disc of your favourite movie.) With the >reverse-engineering of the Content Scrambling System (since Linux people >wanted to play DVDs on their systems), this model just about gets thrown >out the window. > >Enter FMD-ROM, from Constellation 3D > > < http://www.c-3d.net/ > > >Rather than the "paltry" 4GB capacity, this thing can store *140*GB! >And they've done it by preserving the CD/DVD form factor. In fact, they >claim that FMD-ROM readers can read CD and DVD media as well. > >But wait -- there's more! > >How about data transfer speeds? Funny you should ask. ;) >How about up to one Gigabit per second?! > >As for when this whizzy technology will become available? Well, who knows. >The company "hopes" to have the standards ready by the end of this year, >but these things always seem to take longer than anticipated. > >For more details, see > > < http://www.3dhardware.net/features/dvdead/ > > >--Glenn >