3M continues producing disk storage?

Interesting thing I learned in one of my computer classes today.

3M, the people most famous for making sticky notes, once produced about 1.5 foot in diameter computer disks. Basically CDs, but fucktons bigger. Also with a different way of writing, but I won't bore you with technical details.

Anyways, each side of these disks could hold a gig of data on EACH SIDE. According to my instructor, if 3M had kept going with this technology instead of making... Sticky notes, they would have had Blu-ray tier storage on their disks by 1990.

So, say 3M keeps making these disks. Obviously it's a bit unwieldy, but let's just say that it manages to sell and they make smaller disks in the size we have now sometime in 1986 or so, and by 1990 we have Blu-ray tier external storage technology.

How does this affect the computer industry, and the world?
 
Probably not an immense effect - the cd burning would come, and for a quantity of datas VS price, it was not bad... I think.

but I dont know much on the subject, I could be wrong.
 
I may be wrong, but one of those drives - Omega stuff maybe - had a FATAL design issue. The ribbons could break or knot or something...

I don't know the detail, but it was nasty, like erasing datas, and doomed this line.
 
I've never heard of it but I am not impressed by the numbers.

It can store 2048 mB on 1590 cm^2 => 1,3 mB/cm^2
A CD has 700 mB on 113 cm^2 => 6,2 mB/cm^2
Single layer Blu-ray has 25600 mB on 113 cm^2 => 226,6 mB/cm^2

So if we would make a CD with a 1,5ft diameter it would hold almost 10GB on one side, and if the disks from M3 are shrunk to 4,7 inch they will only hold 145 mB. I know I'm using a very simplistic view of storage density, but still.

Maybe it was a brand new technology and it could be improved, but from the numbers you gave it seems that the CD is 5X more efficient. And once the CD becomes popular it will be very hard to market an alternative, even if it is better.

I cannot find anything about it on the web, could you give the name of the technology?
 
Looking at wiki, it maybe the Iomega corp things we both thought of...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iomega

Controversy

Iomega has been widely criticized for customer service issues dating back to 1998, when Wired covered the company's $100 million "advertising blitz" at a time of plummeting stocks and two class-action lawsuits brought to the company by frustrated customers.[5] Warned that increased customer demand would overload Iomega's small in-house resources, the company quadrupled the number of customer support representatives in a thirty-day push to meet demand for its popular products. Fee-based technical support (which continues still today) for questions already found in product documentation was seen as the only feasible option in controlling spiralling support costs. Customers were not charged for support incidents in which Iomega was responsible (e.g., defective products). Nonetheless, some customers took exception.
In one lawsuit customers complained that Iomega's warranty promised free technical support, but once customers called, they were told they would be charged. In a second suit the company was charged with not delivering on cash rebates promised on Zip and Jaz drives sold under promotion.[5]
Iomega's faulty zip and jaz drives became known for an anomaly known as "the click of death", where — after a time — zip and jaz drives would no longer be able to read disks and would instead produce a loud clicking sound. Many users reported damaged disks and data loss.[6]
Despite the impact on the company's stock price, and negative media coverage about the company's legal, business, and customer service issues, its sales continued to grow.[5
 
Lol, I remember when Smith-Corona used to sell their early floppy disks alongside their typewriter ink ribbons. Boy, does that feel a long time ago!
 
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