What is being hailed as the world’s smallest library is somewhere between quaint and genius.  This “library” is none other than a salvaged phone box.  Stocking around 100 books it works as a book exchange.  Users simply bring books they have read and then take books that they haven’t.  This little libarary also hosts DVD’s and CD’s and appeals to all ages with a variety of childrens books as well.

In addition to the creativity and sense of community that this library offers there is a eco-friendly factor.  The salvaging of the phone box itself along with the book exchange it facilitates is a great way to be green. It is the epitome of reuse.

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What would you say if I told you that you could store 200 movies all on one disc? Think I’m crazy? I was surprised when I heard the news. Researchers from General Electric figured out mass data storage on one disc using holographic laser reading and writing. These standard-sized 5-inch discs could initially store up to 300 gigabytes of data–that’s more than most computers’ hard drives! Future versions are expected to hold as much as one terabyte, which could store 40 high-definition movies or 200 standard-definition movies. That could save some major shelf space!

So how does all of this work? With CDs and DVDs, information is stored as a pattern on the discs’ surfaces. With holographic laser writing, the data is “written” using patterns of light interference within the body of light-sensitive material to create three-dimensional holograms. This new technology allows for extremely high storage capacity. Even today’s leading high-capacity format, Blu-Ray, can currently only store up to 50 gigabytes on one disc. Read more about how holographic storageworks.

InPhase is one of the main companies offering the high-end system. The first discs, expected to hold 300 gigabytes, should be available in late 2009. They are planning to market the $18,000 machine and 300 gigabyte discs at $180 apiece. They are also planning a 1.6 terabyte version to hit the market in 2012. These discs do have a high cost, but InPhase expects a large demand, especially in video production, medical-imaging storage, and government.

But be very careful with these extremely valuable discs. You wouldn’t want to accidentally lose or damage one of these discs with nearly 300 gigabytes of data stored on it, so be sure to invest in premium quality DVD cases, or even its own customized package.

The other day, I had the opportunity to visit local CD/DVD replicator and duplicator, Next Generation Media. We walked through the plant and saw the whole process in which your CDs/DVDs are copied and mass-produced. It was very interesting seeing the discs being created and to see all of the machines going at once. They do both replication and duplication, and since many people do not know that there is a difference between replication and duplication, so I will try to briefly explain it.

When you duplicate a disc, you “burn” the data from your master disc or hard drive onto pre-manufactured recordable CDR or DVD-R discs. If you only need a small number of discs copied or just a few at a time, this will be your quickest and least expensive option. You can still make the disc look just as good as a replicated disc with high-quality printing, design, and packaging.

Replication is much different than duplication. When you replicate a disc, there is a manufacturing process involved. Each CD or DVD is injection-molded from polycarbonate pellets and shaped into a disc. They are then physically stamped with the data. They go through the whole process of premastering, mastering, electroplating, injection molding, metallization, spin coating, printing, and advanced quality control. These discs are more durable and are of higher quality than duplicated discs, but they are very expensive if you only want a small number of discs. This is because it takes time to set-up the machines, so there is a high initial fixed cost. But if you are doing a larger project (more than 500 copies), replication may be the best option for you.

I personally enjoyed watching the machine that did the four color printing on the discs. It was a quick way to vamp up the look of the disc for brand recognition, as well as give it a professional style. Now that you can decide on duplication or replication for your next project, don’t forget about all of your CD/DVD packaging options!

Yesterday marked the 30th birthday of the Compact Disc. On March 8th, 1979, Royal Philips Electronics exhibited a prototype of what we now know as the CD. Since then, over 240 billion CDs have been sold. The introduction of the CD also paved the way for videogame discs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs.

To celebrate this historic landmark, IEEE, the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology, presented Philips with the IEEE Milestone Award for their role in the development of the CD.

The CD was truly a revolutionary idea. Not only are CDs much smaller than their predecessor, the cassette tape, they are more convenient and have a much higher quality playback. They completely transformed the way audio, video, and computing was done.

Although some believe that CDs are being pushed out of the way for digital files and mp3s, CDs have brought us a long way and aren’t disappearing yet. Many prefer having a physical disc, rather than storing everything on the computer. And don’t forget about videogames, DVDs, and the new Blu-Ray format. The world is not letting go of discs anytime soon. So to this we say, “Happy Birthday CD!”