# Why can't they make DVDs as big as flash drives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385 "2010-05-05T06:51:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/21 "2010-05-05T20:45:17Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Ahh, that takes me back to the days when I’d have to install MS Access off a stack of 21 floppy disks… LOL. I actually tell my classes when I teach Computer Basics about the days when installing Microsoft Office 4.2 meant repeating the “insert disk, click **OK** , wait, eject disk” sequence about 40 times. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/22 "2010-05-05T21:24:46Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Hard Drive - 5 cents per gig/takes up space, it’s not easily stored, delicate. > Blu-Ray - 36 cents per gig/takes up less space, easily stored, not as delicate > flash drives - $2-$4 per gig Add Tape Drives for 12 cents per gig. Deciding on a backup solution depends on many things. Cost, transfer rates, ease of recovering data, durability and so on all figure in to it. Online solutions are nice although if you have a dead computer and need to pull 500GB of data back to a new PC over the internet you will be waiting literally days to get your stuff back. Not everyone can afford such a delay. There really is no better or worse to this. Only what makes the most sense for you. Each data storage method has its good and not so good points. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/23 "2010-05-05T21:26:40Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > LOL. I actually tell my classes when I teach Computer Basics about the days when installing Microsoft Office 4.2 meant repeating the “insert disk, click **OK** , wait, eject disk” sequence about 40 times. I remember doing that with Novell Netware. Installing meant watching the little flipper spin waiting to insert the next disk. It was sloooow but not so slow you could really do much of anything else. Just had to sit and feed it disks for hours on end. ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/24 "2010-05-05T21:38:21Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > LOL. I actually tell my classes when I teach Computer Basics about the days when installing Microsoft Office 4.2 meant repeating the “insert disk, click **OK** , wait, eject disk” sequence about 40 times. So you get to disk 38 or so and Windows 3.1 or good ol’ Dos 5 tells you that it can’t read from the disk? That really sucked. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/25 "2010-05-05T21:45:38Z")
> [@Livardo](#): > > So you get to disk 38 or so and Windows 3.1 or good ol’ Dos 5 tells you that it can’t read from the disk? > > That really sucked. That’s why you were supposed to make backups of every disk before you tried to install anything. If your disk was bad, you’d go get the original. Now if the original was bad… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385/26 "2010-05-05T22:42:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > My parallel-port Zip drive still suits me just fine, consarn it. [1995 called and said you’re late for supper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iomega_Zip_drive). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-they-make-dvds-as-big-as-flash-drives/538385.md?page=1)