A new Media

Forget the hype over Blu-Ray and other formats, Maxell comes in with a goodie. From the Maxell website:

Maxell Introduces the Future of Optical Storage Media With Holographic Recording Technology
Optical Disc Features 1.6 TeraBytes of Storage Capacity and 120 MBPs Transfer Rate

Maxell Corporation of America, the technological leader in advanced recordable media, and InPhase Technologies are bringing a revolutionary technology to market - holographic media. With uncompressed storage capacities achieving 1.6 TeraBytes per disk and data rates as high as 120 MBPs, holographic technology is a true breakthrough in optical media. These features, along with a long archival life, make holographic media a compelling choice for storage and archival requirements.

Holographic data storage is superior to existing disc and hard drive technologies, and is also competitive against tape technologies in capacities and transfer rate. In addition, it offers a 50+ year media archive life and random data access. Finally, the media is expected to have the lowest cost per gigabyte of any commercial quality removable storage.

A bit more:

The first generation of holographic media with 300 GB of storage capacity and a 20 MBPs Transfer Rate is scheduled for release in late 2006.

And it will probably cost and arm and a leg but the first DVD recorders were $10K when they came out and look how quickly that price fell... Hey, the first CD readers were over $400 -- it was a .very. .big. .deal. when Radio Shack (back when they were good) first came out with a consumer version under $500. The 50-year life expectancy is not too shabby either.