# 52x = the end of the line?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735 "2003-01-15T14:18:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/21 "2003-01-15T22:29:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > 52x cdrw drives have reinforced front faceplates, I read, in order to keep the disks from flying out (would that be interesting to see?). Of course! Imagine: your very own projectile gun shooting out rapidly spinning cds. Who wouldn’t want to see that? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/22 "2003-01-15T22:58:17Z")
CD’s are at the end of the line. DVDs and memory chips are/will be taking over in the next few years. Beyond the technical issues, with some 48X and 52X CDRW’s going for $ 40 - $60 with rebates there really isn’t enough interest or $$ in CDRW drives to keep on making them faster and faster (even if possible given media limitations). ---
**Author:** ![Mallorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Mallorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallorn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/23 "2003-01-15T23:07:11Z")
Slashdot highlighted an article where someone ran some experiments and shattered various CDs running them at not too high speeds. ( [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/19/166228&mode=thread&tid=137](http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/19/166228&mode=thread&tid=137) ) I can’t remember the details (it was almost a year ago!), but I remember seeing the debris and how destructive all those little shards were, which made me think twice about sitting in front of my computer with my legs either side of it. :eek: The author has pulled the article from his site ( [http://www.qedata.se/e\_js\_n-cdrom.htm](http://www.qedata.se/e_js_n-cdrom.htm) ), but does give his email address so you can ask him for it. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/24 "2003-01-15T23:50:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JeffB \* > \*\*Of course! Imagine: your very own projectile gun shooting out rapidly spinning cds. Who wouldn’t want to see that? \*\* Somebody standing in front of it. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/25 "2003-01-16T00:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mallorn \* > \*\*Slashdot highlighted an article where someone ran some experiments and shattered various CDs running them at not too high speeds. ( [http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/19/166228&mode=thread&tid=137](http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/19/166228&mode=thread&tid=137) ) > > I can’t remember the details (it was almost a year ago!), but I remember seeing the debris and how destructive all those little shards were, which made me think twice about sitting in front of my computer with my legs either side of it. :eek: > > The author has pulled the article from his site ( [http://www.qedata.se/e\_js\_n-cdrom.htm](http://www.qedata.se/e_js_n-cdrom.htm) ), but does give his email address so you can ask him for it. \*\* Here is a mirror that hosts the article [The Case of the Exploding CD-ROM Record](http://www.paintbug.com/cdexplode/) ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/26 "2003-01-16T08:39:45Z")
- - - A 52X drive doesn’t spin the CD at 52X the normal speed. . - A normal audio CD speed is around 300 RPM’s. Faster “speeds” have been accomplished mostly by building bigger data buffers in the drives–the burn limit is partly limited by how often the drive has to get more data from the rest of the computer. I remember 440 RPM’s as the top speed of any commercial drive, but I could be remembering wrong on that. And you may have noticed that audio CD decks don’t brag about speeds, because there’s no point to it: audio CD’s only have to hum along at the regular 300 RPM’s to play the music. - Possibly it could be that 52x the data rate of a standard CD is as fast as the IDE system can transmit data. ~ ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/27 "2003-01-16T09:22:51Z")
> [@](#): > > A minute is a minute. And I want instant! Well, let’s see… For an 80-minute music CD, you’d need a CD-R drive running at 80x to make it burn in a minute. To get it in a second, it’d need to burn at 4800x. I don’t think it’s going to happen. And besides, the focus on DVD-RW drives - and after that, the focus on HDVD’s (DVD’s designed to hold even larger amounts of data to accomodate HDTV-format movies) - will make CD’s obsolete for the purposes of data storage. And solid-state media is starting to pick up ground, as well. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/28 "2003-01-16T13:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Possibly it could be that 52x the data rate of a standard CD is as fast as the IDE system can transmit data Harddrives also use IDE and can easliy out read/write cd drives so that can’t be it. I think there are a number of factors including (read wag): 1- chance the cd will shatter at high speeds 2- tracking is much harder at such higher speeds 3- buffer requirements goes way up becasue of #2 4- tech. is being outmoded 5- (or 4a) demand for quick cd’s is falling. CD-drives are not used all that much and most people would rather load the programs totally to HD’s for faster access and not having to find the cd to use the program. For some programs (mainly games) even if the full install option is used it still requires you to insert the CD (to make sure you didn’t borrow the cd), have you noticed that this check happens much quicker on a 12x or less CD then a 52X (due to spin-up time) For music, mp3 players have appeared further lowering the demand to burn cd’s. I don’t think the cycling the laser fast enough to go over 52x is a problem however. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/29 "2003-01-18T10:53:28Z")
- - - I am _really_ bored. - Found this: I guess I was recalling average speeds, this says the speed on the inside is 530 RPM’s and on the outside 200 RPM’s… . [http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html#S5-22](http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html#S5-22) ~ ---
**Author:** ![cw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@cw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cw)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735/30 "2003-01-18T11:57:04Z")
Didn’t they once think that 10,000 rpm HDs were impossible. We’re only in the infancy of digital, I wouldn’t put tabs on anything. People scoffed not even 10 years ago at the seemingly excessive and needless capacities of now obsolete hardware. If there is indeed a maximum speed a CD can be spun at we’ll simply make the CD’s out of some other material that can handle the speed, or develop a new approach to portable data storage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52x-the-end-of-the-line/148735.md?page=1)