Storage Media: DVD-RWThe evolution of faster computers and larger computer programs has necessitated the development of new, faster ways to store large masses of data. The constant advances from 5 ¼ inch floppies, to 3 ½ inch floppies, to high capacity floppies, to zip drives, to CD-RW drives make it seem like when you upgrade, the technology is already obsolete. So, what's next for storage media? The newest storage medium that is rapidly advancing over CD-RW is DVD-RW. DVD-RW drives are decreasing in price, almost as quickly as they are increasing in speed. Over the past 18 months, their price has halved, and it's easy to predict that DVD-RW drives will become the standard for storage media in the near future. According to JB Miles of Government Computer News, rewritable DVD drives are on their way to becoming indispensable tools for PC users. It won't be long before they replace rewritable CD drives. Rewritable DVDs are hard to beat in terms of capacity and versatility. They can read, write and rewrite up to 4.7G of information per side of the disc, and they read both DVD-ROM discs and most CDs, so the music CDs you've collected won't go to waste. (Miles 2002) There are currently two main formats competing to become the DVD-R and RW standard. The formats are DVD+R and DVD-R. It used to be difficult to decide which to invest in when purchasing a new DVD-RW drive, however, recently released DVD-RW drives like Sony's DRU-500A are capable of writing in both formats. This new Sony drive not only writes DVD+RW and +R at 2.4X, but also writes competing DVD-R and DVD-RW formats at 4X and 2X, twice as fast as current DVD-R and DVD-RW drives dedicated. Furthermore, it is also capable of burning CD-Rs at 24X and CD-RWs at 10X. This could be very advantageous considering the low cost of CD-Rs compared to DVD-Rs. The technology doesn't stop with DVD drives. The actual DVDs will also undergo updates. Faster and faster writing speeds will reduce the time it takes to write 4.7 Gigabytes. Maxell recently announced that it will release its new line of DVDs in February 2002.