Cast your mind back, if you will, to the birth of the CD, then still called the compact disk. The CD was so tough, we were promised, that you could spread jelly on it, clean it off again and the music would still play perfectly. A miracle after easy-to-scratch vinyl. Of course, the intervening years have taught us that this was, if not a lie, then at least untrue: The CD attracts scratches like a Star Trek convention attracts single men.
The story was repeated with the DVD, where a single blemish can render an entire movie unwatchable (more than once I have rented a DVD and been forced to BitTorrent that same movie just to watch it that night). Now, again, things will be different.
The Cranberry DiamonDisc will, the claims go, last for 1000 years. Contrary to the name, and the repeated use of the word “diamond” on the site, the disk is not made of this tough crystalline material. It is instead hewn from “synthetic stone”, although it magically remains transparent. Data is burned directly into this super-hard plate, which will withstand temperatures up to 170ºF (80ºC). Because the disk has no adhesive, gold, or other layers, the reasoning goes that it will last a lot longer.
This is good, and I’ll let you know how it works in 1,000 year’s time, when my head has been defrosted and attached to a fresh new body, and I shall of course still be able to buy a DVD player to read the files. In the meantime, you’ll be wondering how you might author such an indestructible disk. The answer is that you don’t. Instead, you upload your precious files (up to 4.7GB per disk) to Cranberry’s servers, whereupon “Cranberry etches your files onto the DiamonDisc and mails it to your home or office”.
That’s right. The disk is mailed to you. If you’re going to go through the pain of a 5GB upload, then why not just use an online backup service? The files will be safe, and multiple copies will be maintained by the service, and – better – you can encrypt the files for security. Or perhaps you could print your files and photos onto paper and your movies onto celluloid. DiamondDiscs will cost $35. Each. And if you really need to carve your own, there is a burner available for just $5,000
Product page [Cranberry via Earth Times]
