Number 289 - June 2007

Life of a CD-R
by Carl Tenning Tacoma Open Group For Microcomputers
I had what I believe was my first end-of-life failure of a CD-R. It was about ten years old. The CD-R had been burned as an audio CD and now would not play. It had been stored in a jewell case, free of dust, had never been damaged, and had never been scratched or had fingerprints applied. It did, however have an	adhesive CD label. Upon close examination, I could see cracks in the plastic. Now I am wondering if the adhesive in the CD label could have set up stresses in the plastic that caused cracking? Either that, or it was the natural deterioration of the plastic itself that resulted in cracking. I suppose time will tell.
Number 289 - June 2007