DVDs Last Only Two to Five Years

The National Archives warns that CD/DVD "life expectancy is 2 to 5 years."

And the faster your burning speed, the shorter the life of your DVD.

"Two to Five years? That can't be true. I bought a Dances With Wolves DVD back in 1996 and it still plays fine."

Mass-duplicated DVDs are made using an entirely different process known as “glass mastering.” DVDs created on personal computers last only a few years. Haven’t you read the warnings from the Library of Congress?

“But I bought a ‘Gold’ DVD.”

When information burned on their DVDs began to disappear, manufacturers assumed the problem was due to the silver reflective back becoming tarnished, so Gold DVDs were introduced because gold doesn’t tarnish. Now the Gold DVDs are degrading as fast as the silver ones. The problem turned out to be the fading of the laser-sensitive ink in the sandwich layer between the clear plastic and the reflective surface.

Photos, videos and creative work should all be carved in stone.

We mean that literally, by the way, not metaphorically.

A Cranberry DiamonDisc is a DVD made of high tech stone.

Memories carved on a DiamonDisc will last as long as the pyramids. No reflective surface. No ink layer. No fading. Problem solved. The Library of Congress is studying our technology for storage of the national archives. It’s the only solution for permanent, digital storage.

"Can my computer burn a Cranberry DiamonDisc?"
   No, we’ll have to burn your DiamonDiscs for you.

"But my computer can read a DiamonDisc, right?"
   Absolutely.

"How do we get started?"
   Here are your options.

Other Questions

“Is online backup a safe solution?"
Miss a monthly payment to the storage company and your data disappears forever. Online storage, at its best, means your data is “out there somewhere.” You should also have a physical copy of important files within your own control.

"What about USB drives?"
Disposable solid state devices like thumb drives and SD cards have an even shorter lifecycle than DVDs. They’re convenient, but not permanent.

"What if I just rely on my hard drive?"
You’re going to lose your data. It’s only a matter of time. Spinning platters of magnetic media are notoriously unreliable. The lifespan of hard drives is even shorter than solid state devices.