New DVDs store digital photos for centuries

Though many people still back their irreplaceable digital photos to CDs or DVDs, they're really not a long-term solution. The dyes and reflective layers of conventional recordable CDs and DVDs can deteriorate in two to five years depending on environmental factors. A new long-lasting DVD technology aims to dramatically increase that lifespan by using physical etchings on a rock-like substance to record data.

Makers of the Cranberry DiamonDisc (who exclusively license the technology from Millenniata for the consumer market) claim a shelf-life of 1,000 years, and while the claim obviously can't be proven, testing based on ECMA International standards indicates the discs will indeed last as long as there are drives that can read them (i.e., most standard DVD drives).

A single 4.7GB DVD (which holds about 2,000 photos) will set you back $34, and unless you want to cough up $4,995 for your own Cranberry Disc Writer (which comes with 150 blank discs), you'll have to upload or mail your files to Cranberry to have them burned onto a DVD and mailed back to you. A Cranberry DVD Vault option provides a duplicate disc that is kept in a secure storage vault by Cranberry (and costs $89 annually for up to 25 DVDs).