Digital Home Thoughts: IBM Storage Expert Warns of CD Expiration Date

"Opinions vary on how to preserve data on digital storage media, such as optical CDs and DVDs. Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM (Profile, Products, Articles) Deutschland, has his own view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs for a lifetime. "Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke said in an interview this week. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more.""

There are varying opinions on this, but I thought most experts agreed that CDs and DVDs would last in the 20+ year range before degradation, depending on the type and quality of the dye used. This guy, who's credentials sound impressive, is saying two years for cheap CDs and only five years for quality CDs? That's disastrous! I've always been a big believer in lots of big hard drives with the data mirrored all over the place, and this only confirms that opinion. It's sad to think of all the data and memories burned to CD/DVD that might not be accessible even five years from now. Anyone had trouble with optical discs they burned more than a couple of years ago?