We have all seen and used CDs before, whether they are audio CDs, video games, DVDs or audio files. CD stands for Compact Disc. The real question is, what on earth are these shiny circles made of? Let’s find out.
A compact disc is an optical disc that stores data. Originally developed for music recordings, the CD soon found itself being used for data storage, both read-only and rewriteable. CD-ROM stands for Compact Disc – Read Only Memory which means that you can copy or “burn” information onto the disc, but you cannot change it afterwards. CD-Rs (Compact Disc – Rewriteable) provide more flexibility in that you can update documents and delete or save new files to the disc. However, most CDs can only sustain a limited number of rewrites. (more…)
