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CD-ROM drives purchased today may become obsolete because of two issues. The first is speed. If you have an old, two-speed drive, you may already be unable to play sophisticated games that require four-speed drives. But newer CD-ROMs rated at 12 to 52 speed are likely to be okay for some years. A more important issue is the emergence of the DVD-ROM, with its huge storage capacity and ability to play full-screen, full-length motion pictures. While the huge numbers of CD-ROM drives on the market guarantee that software titles will be available for a long time, CD-ROMs won't be able to take advantage of the new DVD programs.
Emerging technologies that will have an impact on existing CD-ROM drives include:
Higher storage capacities. Despite the speed increases, the storage capacities of CD-ROM disks have remained constant at a little more than 800 megabytes. But a new generation of DVD-ROMs appearing on the market can store at least 8 gigabytes of data. Although, cd's will continue to have their market share, because to date, DVD discs do not play in audio stereos, so the their use for music and data still exists, and will for some time. However, the introduction of iPods and the like may have an impact.
Changers.This internal/external drive is designed to fit into the same space as a single CD-ROM drive, and it offers advantages when working with different titles and switching among them quickly. Manufacturers have been making changers available in home and car stereos for a number of years.
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