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Data Storage Media

Burn the CD on Both Sides 355

Posted by michael from the crispy-on-the-outside-with-a-moist-chewy-center dept.
apocal writes "How cool wouldn't it be to be able to burn the label on your cd using the same laser you used to burn the cd in the first place? Well, I guess this technology called LightScribe will be coming soon. 'Suppose you have just created a compilation CD of a dozen or so of your favorite songs. Now you want to make a label that contains the song titles, artists' names, and some personal information and design elements to make it special. First, burn your tracks onto the data side of the disc. Then open your favorite LightScribe-enabled label-making software and go to the CD template work area. Now you do all of your creative design workcompose pictures, copy, artwork whatever. When you are satisfied with what you have done, take the disc out of your drive, flip it over to the label side and put it back in the drive. Now go back to your label-making software, and simply click print.'"
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Burn the CD on Both Sides More

Burn the CD on Both Sides

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  • Reminds me of.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by mr.henry ( 618818 ) * on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:31AM (#11135775) Journal
    Yamaha came out with something similar back in 2002 called DiscT@2 [yamahamultimedia.com] that let you put text and graphics on the unused portions of the data side. It never really took off.

    • Re:Reminds me of.. (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Link to Slashdot story from June 2002:
      http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/24 /122720 0&tid=126
    • you can barely see it, even using the special T@2 CD-Rs that the drives come with. no chance with any normal media. top drives though, even come with 1x constant angular velocity CD-audio mastering mode...
      • I picked up some Verbatim discs with a deep blue metallic dye, and the T@2 definitely shows up. It's still completely useless to me, though, since it can't write on the data portion.

        The actual drive is one of the best investments I've ever made, though. I've only burnt coasters doing on-the-fly copies from lesser drives.

        I've always wished that someone would figure out how to use the DiscT@2 ability for burning pits of arbitrary length and breadth of the CRW-F1 to burn CDVs [cs.tut.fi] (CD-sized laserdiscs) -- but e

    • Re:Reminds me of.. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by adeydas ( 837049 )
      this one will never take off either. there are tons of printers and softwares that will do the same job, so i don't see why people should switch over...

    • Re:Reminds me of.. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Badflash ( 812406 )
      Wouldn't it be more usefull to have dual sided CD rom burning writers? Like those DVDs? It could get to 1.4gb instead of 700mb... :)

      • Re:Reminds me of.. (Score:3, Informative)

        by DJStealth ( 103231 )
        I think the CD format requires the reflective layer be a certain distance from the laser.

        (For those who don't know, contrary to popular belief, the reflective layer is actually on the side we write on with markers, pens, etc. Not the face-down side, and not in the middle; so don't worry so much about scratching the side that goes face in the drive, you should be more worried about scratching the side that has the label)

        Putting another layer into CD's would require another ~2mm of plastic on the other sid

      • Re:Reminds me of.. (Score:5, Funny)

        by poot_rootbeer ( 188613 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @10:57AM (#11137243)

        Yeah, but you'd have to use a hole puncher to make a notch in the DVD to get it to fit into the drive.
  • Someone hopefully will remember the name, but I saw an article on CD Writers which could etch a label onto a disk over a year ago.

  • No thanks (Score:5, Informative)

    by JustinXB ( 756624 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:32AM (#11135779)
    It combines the CD or DVD drive of your computer with specially coated discs and enhanced disc-burning software to produce precise, silkscreen-quality, iridescent labels.

    I think I'll pass.
    • I'll be passing too, although I probably would buy a 5 spool set or something of blanks and download a cracked version of their software if I needed it for a special use. Unless of course they are going to cater to the market who doesn't want to be locked down to their CDRs and software for everything.

    • Interesting idea, but it's not going to fly.

      I just buy inkjet coated CDR/DVDRs now. Really cheap and full-color prints on my Epson R200 that can fool people into thinking they're stamped DVDs.

      My DVD authoring clients love getting check discs on them. No more "sharpie discs".

      I just can't see this technology being common when you need special media - sorry, try again.

      N.
      • I just can't see this technology being common when you need special media - sorry, try again.

        Tha't a nerd speaking. But it might be worth it to some people to not have to deal with the inkjet and stomper to get a labeled CD.

        There were people laughing about the guy who first started selling bottled water. Why buy it when you can get it for free??

        That seems to have found it's niche, and this might too. If everybody only bought a few discs, that still is a lot of discs.

        It's all about convenience.

        • Re:No thanks (Score:5, Informative)

          by Nogami_Saeko ( 466595 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:25AM (#11135948)
          Ah yes, but bottled water is "trendy", and it's a visible sign that you're both a "person with a healthy lifestyle" and can afford to "buy water".

          (or so it seems)

          But no, I firmly believe this won't find a niche. Most people wanting blank media just want them at absolutely the lowest cost possible...

          The Yamaha one wasn't much more than an interesting gimmick - I saw it in a store, but there was nothing that especially made me want to buy one. Feel free to disagree, but we can compare notes in a year :)

          BTW: The latest Epsons print directly onto coated CD/DVDs with no sticky label and no stomper. It's easily as convenient as this device and full colour... And printable media is already out there and easily available.

          N.
          • Ah, but the latest Epsons require me to buy inkjet-compatible media, and I have to buy the printer and ink. Why do that when I've got two perfectly good laser printers (one color)? Oh, and Stompers aren't very good - I know from experience ;-)

            • Re:No thanks (Score:3, Insightful)

              by SlamMan ( 221834 )
              As opposed to this technology that makes you a new cd burner?

              Besides, Epson actually makes a good photo printer in the R200 that lets you print to cds. At $100, its hard to believe that this spinoff of HP will make a product thats as good and as cheap, It requires an uncommon media.

              Just too late to market. Might have worked before cd printers became common.
              • What if I happen to need a new CD burner, as I'm afraid to try the one I've got (I think I can attribute it to the death of two motherboards)?
          • I drink bottled water because it tastes better. I don't know what makes this 'trendy' either. Healthy lifestyle? For all you know i use this to mix my alcohol with. And since it's about 30 eurocents for 2 liter of water, i can't say it's a way to show off with my money.

            • bottled water taste test... (Score:4, Insightful)

              by Physics Dude ( 549061 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @10:07AM (#11136826) Homepage
              I drink bottled water because it tastes better.

              A few years ago, I read about some blinded taste tests of popular bottled waters and water from other sources. The results? The number one best tasting water...New York City tap water. ;)

              Also, studies by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that bottled waters tended to be less safe from a microbiological-purity standpoint. You can read more in a Scientific Amierican artlcle here [sciam.com]


          • Can you show me where the publicly available taps are in the streets of my town please ?

            Last time I looked there were none.

          • Labels Protect Disc? (Score:3, Interesting)

            by dunc78 ( 583090 )
            Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the recording surface very close to the top of the disk. Meaning when you scratch the top of the disk, it damages the recording surface. This is the impression I had, and if this is the case, it seems advantageous to have a paper label affixed to the disk. It seems like the paper provides an extra layer of protection.
          • ...you risk looking like a fool.

            Phones and TV were written off as gimmicks. Later some argued non-VHS/VHSc camcorders would die off becasue they used different media than the most common VCRs. There were good arguments made for those cases, but those who made bold statements without a good arumgnet ended up looking pretty foolish.

            But no, I firmly believe this won't find a niche. Most people wanting blank media just want them at absolutely the lowest cost possible...

            Well, I guess I'm not most people,

      • Re:No thanks (Score:5, Insightful)

        by polyp2000 ( 444682 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:11AM (#11135910) Homepage Journal
        In your own words ...

        I just can't see this technology being common when you need special media - sorry, try again.

        I just buy inkjet coated CDR/DVDRs now.

        No further comment...

        • Then allow me to comment further

          These are available now for full colour, and work on any injket printer that you can load media into directly and print to with any software.

          Why would you wait until they come out with this project (black and white only) that only works with specially designed writers which supports their own special media when using their special software (which appears to be a printer emulating driver)?

          The part of the picture that you're missing is "locked into using their technology", a

        • Re:No thanks (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          I think that Sharpie has come out with a technology for labeling your media.

      • Re:No thanks (Score:3, Funny)

        by bugnuts ( 94678 )
        I just buy inkjet coated CDR/DVDRs now.
        Isn't it difficult to feed the CDRs through the printer?

        (Reminds me of the old joke about the pharmacy assistant that was fired because he kept breaking the pill jars when putting them into the typewriter.)

  • Hmm (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:32AM (#11135782)
    *cough* advert *cough*

  • Did you really have to give an example? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stevejsmith ( 614145 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:34AM (#11135786) Homepage
    This reads more like an advertisement - do you really need to spell out to us a "possible use" for this? Don't think you could have left that up to our imaginations?

  • Question (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gowen ( 141411 ) <gwowen@gmail.com> on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:35AM (#11135791) Homepage Journal
    First, burn your tracks onto the data side of the disc. Then open your favorite LightScribe-enabled label-making software and go to the CD template work area. Now you do all of your creative design workcompose pictures, copy, artwork whatever. When you are satisfied with what you have done, take the disc out of your drive, flip it over to the label side and put it back in the drive. Now go back to your label-making software, and simply click print.
    So, does slashdot get paid for running such blatant advertising copy for technology that doesn't even seem to exist commercially yet? If so, how much?
  • If its priced similarly to your average burner it would be useful for somebody who doesnt have the time to fiddle with a label maker (or for that matter, Sharpie all the cd's in a batch). Hopefully technology like this will gain popularity so the average person can have their own small scale cd factory.
  • As is, it only does black and white labels. How much harder would it be to extend the process to color labels? I imagine it'd require multiple layers of different coatings to achieve the proper result, plus the use of different lasers, but it shouldn't be impossible.

    • How much harder would it be to extend the process to color labels?

      Significantly.

      plus the use of different lasers,

      Are you serious? You really think you get green coloration from a green laser, etc? If this did have a special multi-layered material that would allow for various colors, it would simply engage the laser at different power-levels to write the image.

      Personally, I really like this product, if only because my handwriting is poor, and printing a label is just too expensive to be practical. I

  • From the FAQs (Score:5, Informative)

    by alphakappa ( 687189 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:39AM (#11135810) Homepage
    LightScribe is actually an Hewelett Packard product [lightscribe.com], so the chances of this technology actually being licensed and incorporated in regular disk drives and media is pretty good.
    • This is "innovation" at Carly's HP these days. Jeez, how far this once great company has fallen.
    • LightScribe is actually an Hewelett Packard product [lightscribe.com], so the chances of this technology actually being licensed and incorporated in regular disk drives and media is pretty good.

      Wearing my pessimist's hat, methinks the blank CD's will be priced like their color ink cartridges. Priced a full HP 78 cart lately?

      Don't expect to get a spindle of 100 blanks for $20 anytime soon.

  • Burn DATA on both sides (Score:3, Insightful)

    by c0dedude ( 587568 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:40AM (#11135814)
    Yeah, this would be cool if you could burn data on both sides. It'd probably cost more though, and the burners might be more expensive. It could even, with a little work, perhaps go up to 3 gigs! Think of the versitility. And it's digital too. We could call it a Digital Versitile Disc.

    As for the product being advertised here (because that's what this is, a /vertisement (and isn't even as cool as a double sided CD (they have double sided DVD's, too ))), this [sharpie.com] is all I've got to say.

  • Labeling CD-Rs the old way.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by mr.henry ( 618818 ) * on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:41AM (#11135816) Journal
    FYI

    Don't Use Sharpies on CD-R [lowendmac.com]: There is a modest amount of anecdotal evidence that the use of solvent-based ink markers (Sharpies use an alcohol-based ink), particularly on CD-R/RWs without a protective coating and CD-R/RWs kept in a warm to hot environment can lead to long-term penetration of the ink to the data layer with resulting damage to the data.

    • IBM advise that you should either use a proper CD marker, write in the central ring where there is no data, or choose CDs with a printable label side (they all used to be like this once, I think).

      Incidentally, even on regular factory-produced "silver" CDs, the data layer is only a few microns beneath the *label side*. If you're going to scratch one, do it on the non-label side. Leaving it on your desk label side down, which seems more intuitive, is more likely to damage it.

      • Incidentally, even on regular factory-produced "silver" CDs, the data layer is only a few microns beneath the *label side*. If you're going to scratch one, do it on the non-label side. Leaving it on your desk label side down, which seems more intuitive, is more likely to damage it.

        Cow orker of mine once had a CD in a desk drawer with a leaky bottle of whiteboard cleaner. When she discovered it, she found she had a completely blank, transparent disk of plastic and a perfectly round piece of aluminium foil

    • It also says the evidence for it is scant, and infrequent. I've had problems with the top layer flaking off, but never problems from the sharpie.

      Given the HUGE amount of people that use sharpies to label disks and the scant evidence, I'd tend to ignore this as just FUD.

    • Sharpies are OK to use (Score:5, Informative)

      by sparkhead ( 589134 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:29AM (#11135959)
      There's no problem using sharpies. Touched on this in this thread [slashdot.org] over a year ago. The summary, from the Sharpie website [sharpie.com]:

      Is the SHARPIE marker safe for writing on CD's?

      Sanford has used SHARPIE markers on CDs for years and we have never experienced a problem. We do not believe that the SHARPIE ink can affect these CDs, however we have not performed any long-term laboratory testing to verify this. We have spoken to many major CD manufacturers about this issue. They use the SHARPIE markers on CDs internally as well, and do not believe that the SHARPIE ink will cause any harm to their products.

      • Believe and do not believe. Has anyone actually tried testing it either way? I can't wholly trust anecdotal "evidence", and I can't wholly trust the manufacturer to be completely up-front about product flaws. They even admit that they haven't really done long term testing.

        Granted, I use sharpies, but I usually try to write on sections with no data, the outer ring (if there isn't too much data) and the hub.
    • I have not seen any problem. I have at least 300 CD-Rs that were written on with sharpies and have now been sitting on the shelf for 8 years. Recently I tested them an there are no read problems.

      It COULD be that it's dependent on brand/quality of CD-R. For instance, I had some CD-Rs that I got from OfficeMax that were total rubbish. I don't remember the brand but they were 4x50 packs shrink-wrapped in a cardboard box for about $10. I wound up throwing the lot away after the first 30 discs.

      Those discs

  • Hey, cool! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Vo0k ( 760020 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:42AM (#11135820) Journal
    Remember, there was some rule, stating that your data will always take 100.1% of your available storage space. Now you can encode the remainder using Paperdisk [paperdisk.com] and write it on the surface, then read it back with a common flatbed scanner!

  • Advertisements (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lightknight ( 213164 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:42AM (#11135822) Homepage
    Ok, this is annoying. Second advertisement in a row. The question now is: are the editors just slow, or they are getting paid for this?
  • I am guessing that "Using your CD-R drive as a printer" is not covered in your drives repair policy. I would be careful with this, could be difficult to explain if the thing dies after using these labels.
  • Frankly, this is just a gimmick to sell over-priced media to the masses.

    If the label is for my own use, I'm quite happy with a marker. It's got to be MUCH quicker and just as effective unless there is a vast assortment of files on the cd -- in which case the surface is too small anyway.

    If it is for others, I want full color graphics anyway so why would I use this thing?

  • "News"? (Score:3, Informative)

    by sim000 ( 721371 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:45AM (#11135838)
    First, I agree this reads more like an ad. Second, this really cannot be called "news" under any circumstances, let alone on /. -- this was in PC World in *March*: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,114592,t k,wb030804x,00.asp
  • This is pretty cool but I wonder why it needs a specialized drive to accomplish the job. It'd be awesome if they could just save their label image as an ISO and use any recorder available so as long as you had discs with their special labels. Stuff like this is pretty cool but if it requires buying a new cd/dvd burner I probably won't consider it until I need a new burner.

    I'd like to see something like this, or better yet, like DiscT@2 [yamahamultimedia.com] , designed into future disc specifications. Why have labels at all when

  • Dupe! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rico_za ( 702279 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:47AM (#11135847)
    Dupe [slashdot.org] from 9 months ago! They even have the same CD "Vacation [lightscribe.com] in Hawaii" [pcworld.com] pictured on both sites.

  • Disappointing (Score:2, Insightful)

    by FluffyPanda ( 821763 )
    I thought this article was going to be about burning data on both sides of a CD, instead it's a barely disguised sales pitch.

    Does anyone really need laser etched CDs? Can't you just buy a printer that supports direct to CD printing? Probably cheaper, a lot more useful 99% of the time and you can get G04 DVDs with a printable label surface today.
    • Does anyone really need laser etched CDs? Can't you just buy a printer that supports direct to CD printing?

      This makes me think of the thermal printers that were popular in the late 80s early 90s. Thermal paper was very popular in faxes for a good long time as well as libraries but eventually people figured out that it was cheaper to go with regular paper and ink/toner than buying chemically treated paper. I owned a nice wide carriage printer that used a thermal transfer ribbon that I was incredibly happ
  • my canon pixma ip4000 [steves-digicams.com] (170 euro) can print on Specially coated cd's/dvd's [ritek.com.tw] just fine in full color. (printing has not the disadvantages of label that can make the dvd/ high speed cd unstable in the player)

    And the same printer can print the inlay for the cover.

    Epson also has a range of inktje prints (9000 series) that can print on cd/dvd's.

    Why invent something new for something that already exists?

    PS, please note that a badly applied label can damage your player, but printing directly on a cd does not
    • my canon pixma ip4000 (170 euro) can print on Specially coated cd's/dvd's just fine in full color.

      The Primera Signature Z1 [tigerdirect.com] looks like an option that is not limited to printable discs and not subject to the issues of the ink disapearing under your fingertips.

      Why invent something new for something that already exists?

      Inkjet printing on CDs can be sloppy to say the least.

  • Lets be fair (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MiggyMan ( 227116 )
    Advert or not it's still an interesting technology that will have some application even if it doesnt take off as a comsumer technology.

    Small buisness cd duplication anyway ?

    Thats where I see this getting used, I hate when we receive software from smaller companies on cdr's with the details jotted on with a pen, id rather like to see a "tattooed" label, god knows those stick on label kits are awful.
  • With laser precision, LightScribe delivers a closely controlled quantum of light energy to multiple points on the disc as it spins in the drive.

    So I presume, the image on the disk only appears when someone finally observes it, and before, it exists only as a superposition of qpoints..... How Cool it that! ;)

  • How cool... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MMMDI ( 815272 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:14AM (#11135919) Homepage
    How cool wouldn't it be to be able to burn the label on your cd using the same laser you used to burn the cd in the first place?

    That summary was spot on, wow.
  • How cool wouldn't it be to be able to burn the label on your cd using the same laser you used to burn the cd in the first place?

    The laser, especially in burning mode, heats the disk up. Therefore it wouldn't be quite cool, but rather hot.

  • disc labelling (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ajs318 ( 655362 ) <sd_resp2NO@SPAMearthshod.co.uk> on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:24AM (#11135944)
    CDs are for listening to {if they contain music}, or backing up files to. They are not for looking at. DVDs arguably are for looking at, but only with the aid of a device {placeholder for robot joke}. I think I'll stick with my trusty OHP marker, if it's all the same to you guys. I don't need fancy gimmicks. In fact, most of the DVD+RWs I use with my TV recorder are totally unlabelled! I simply write the name of the film on the paper inlay, and never, ever take more than one disc at a time out of its box. For time-shifting regular programmes, I just use the same one disc over and over again ..... I haven't yet run afoul of the limited-write thing.

    Of course, if it's something special, then I'll add a self-adhesive paper label, printed separately using a template I knocked up in OpenOffice.org Draw. And given that printing the label is likely to be as expensive as burning the disc, I'm glad it's a separate process as this cuts down on muck-ups.
    • if it's something special, then I'll add a self-adhesive paper label

      I HOPE you're talking about purpose-made CD-labels. If you're using a rectangular label (as I've seen people do), you're just asking for trouble.

      • Re:disc labelling (Score:2, Informative)

        by MMMDI ( 815272 )
        Why is that? I've been doing it for ages (still have CD's burnt + labeled from '99) without a problem.

        Note that I'm not debating your point, I'd genuinely never heard this before.
        • I think it is because it creates an unbalanced load. I don't think it necessarily causes problems at 1x and 2x set-top DVD speeds, but in a high speed DVD drive, it could cause undue stress on the spindle motor and excess vibration.
  • How about making this a technology review and also post the competition.
    e.g. the one from HP that does the same thing [slashdot.org]

  • You need to buy discs from them. The CDR laser heats up a special paint on the disc and makes it darker. Kinda cool but it won't just work with any CD, and I'm sure the new discs aren't as cheap as plain CDRs, but I don't know for sure. Software...Windows only? Didn't see any info on that...
  • Thermal Cd/Dvd printers have been around forever and since this new device uses specially coated discs, you might as well just buy an Epson Printer (with dvd tray) and Inkjet printable discs. You get a printer that can print cds/dvds and (gasp) can print on regular paper. This for the same price as one of these new "laser" burners.
  • How cool wouldn't it be to be able to burn the label on your cd using the same laser you used to burn the cd in the first place?

    Marginally cool. If at all.

  • This amazing technology is the no-hassle way to create awesome-looking labels for all your music mix CDs, digital video or photo archives, and for any business application. And they're labels that last and last. The sky's the limit in designing and producing labels that express your creativity and personality.

    ...

  • Major licensees (Score:2, Interesting)

    by LentoMan ( 704115 )
    If you look at the "who is licensed?" page at http://lightscribe.com/whoislicensed.aspx [lightscribe.com] You can see that many major companies, already has licensed the technology so I can already see this becoming some sort of standard. At least when major software, hardware and media companies like Ahead (Nero)/Cyberlink/Intervideo (software), Memorex/TDK (media), Toshiba/Philips/Hitachi (hardware) support them. No, I'm not working for any of them, just stating that when some of the major companies in the industry supp

  • Label? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CrazyTalk ( 662055 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @07:40AM (#11136123)
    Frankly I would rather have two sides of music than one side of music and a pretty label on the other.

  • Burning Data on Both Sides (Score:5, Funny)

    by iCharles ( 242580 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @07:47AM (#11136139) Homepage
    I've been putting data on both sides of my disks for years. All it took was a hole punch. /shows his age.
  • I like this idea. I like the idea that I'll be able to burn a CD, flip it over and burn a nice label, albeit in monochrome. It isn't exactly an amazing idea, coat the disc in an ink that reacts to the laser light in a CDR drive.

    I don't have an inkjet printer, I don't care about having full colour labels either. But it is nice if it looks neater than a CD/DVD pen in my handwriting.

    For a couple of cents per disc, it is fine. Especially on DVD media and next generation media, and decent current media.
  • I can understand the "special" discs with the reactive coating and all, but according to their site, you also need a "special" CD/DVD burner as well.

    This also if the label-side coating is heat-reactive, what happens if the CD/DVD gets near a heat source that isn't hot enough to "damage" the disc, but hot enough to "affect" the labeling? Is this an issue?
  • This is somehow newsworthy? There are a number of ink-jet printers out there that are modifications to existing HP and Epson priters that allow you to put a CD in a specific CD-sized tray to print directly to the disc. The only requirement is that you use discs with printable surfaces. Otherwise, it's an ink-jet printer. So, you get full color and the ability to use relatively inexpensive inks (refills, anyone?) with out the costs of proprietary software or hardware, toner, or other kind of inks.

    And

  • $2 CD printer (Score:4, Funny)

    by BSDKaffee ( 729432 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @08:29AM (#11136265)
    This is the only CD printer I've ever needed: $2 CD printer [sharpie.com]
  • I file my discs in binders due to overwhelming volume (if I put them in jewel cases I'd need a warehouse).
    With that many discs, even with an inventory system to get you to the right binder, you still need labels of some kind to help.
    I like stickers. I know a lot of people say they cause playback trouble, but I haven't seen it. I've gone through several thousand stickers over many years, and I haven't really had any trouble that I could relate to putting a sticker on.

    Stickers cost 7 cents each at Sam's cl

  • About Face (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @11:22AM (#11137472) Homepage Journal
    Why burn just a label? If the laser can burn pits with optically different properties from the untouched label, without affecting the optical pattern of pits on the other, "data" side, how about letting us burn another CD on the label? I want a 1.6GB CD, and then a double-sided laser head so I don't have to flip it!

  • Lightscribe Pros and Cons (spc media ain't a con) (Score:3, Informative)

    by RonBurk ( 543988 ) on Monday December 20, 2004 @12:19PM (#11138013) Homepage Journal
    I've been tracking Lightscribe for much of the year, over at www.backupcritic.com/faq/lightscribe/what.html [backupcritic.com]. After reliably missing its ship dates, I'm starting to believe it may finally be close to appearing.

    The need to purchase special media is actually a plus in my book. AFAIK, this will be the first labelling solution for optical discs that was actually designed by people who have to make optical discs work correctly. No spin imbalance due to "painting" on only parts of the disc, no chemicals leaching through to the other side, etc. If I can make a lovely graphical label without worrying that it will decrease the odds the disc will be readable in 5 years, that will likely be worth a modest price penalty in media to me. At this point, there is still no word on what the price penalty will actually be for a drive or for the media.

    The real disadvantages are: quite slow to burn (think 20 minutes for a complex graphic) that high-res image, and only monochrome. So, if you sell software, don't think this is going to be a neat way of producing labels for shipped product.

    What it will be really cool for is things like handing a home movie DVD to your inlaws with a picture of their grandson burned on the disc. For casual writing, I'll still use a special felt pen. For high-value discs that I'm going to bother to make a custom jewel case jacket for, I'm definitely looking to Lightscribe as my on-disc labelling solution.

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