Long-term CD storage

[Tanegashima]

I read a pamphlet from my local library that CD's that will be on shelves/stored for the long term need to be stored vertically. Otherwise, if stored flat (face up/down etc..) gravity can have the long term effect of warping the plastic and making the disc unreadable.

Is this true? I store everything vertically to save room anyway, but just curious.

[MrMatthews]

By that logic, gravity will pull on the CD regardless of what position it is in and warp it. I can't imagine that storing the CD flat can be any better than storying it vertically, especially since window panes are "stored vertically" and the glass eventually starts getting thicker along the bottom as gravity pulls it downward. Wouldn't CD's be the same way?

Oh, and what is the timeframe we're talking about, here? I don't think it would be too much of a tragedy if the CD's I bought in 2000 were unreadable in 2050

[Tanegashima]

glass is a liquid, so it's going to flow with gravity no matter what...

It was a pamphlet from the public library, so they didn't give an exact time frame. I know that super important data is stored on gold discs like a record so there is no conceivable way that it will corrode or lose data...

that seems outta my price range though...

see thats what I thought though, I mean my dad's CD's from 1984 that work perfectly and they've been moved, stored all sortsa different ways etc. etc. I just don't know...I just think it's hokum. I mean in 50 years how much of an effect could gravity have on a disc anyway? Would it be warped by a micron? In which case there is no way that it will make a lick of difference. Or will it look like a circus tent (which would be AWESOME!).

All those AOL coasters suddenly look like party hats come 2050...

[MrMatthews]

Quote:
glass is a liquid, so it's going to flow with gravity no matter what...


And so will a CD, apparently . . . so what difference does it make which way it's stored? Maybe an engineer wrote that manual

Call me overly skeptical, but I think the "expert" who wrote this pamphlet is the same kind of guy who makes outrageous claims that are impossible to prove or disprove - like the theory that if the earth and a pool ball were the same size, the earth would be smoother.

[Tanegashima]

[Rusty Venture]

So is Earth the 8-ball?

[johnnyb]

It`s the one you ask questions to and then shake it... outlook not so good.

[Rusty Venture]

I'm pretty sure the best way to preserve your CD's is in a dark cryogenic freezer in space.

[17daysolderthannes]

glass is a liquid, so it's going to flow with gravity no matter what...

It was a pamphlet from the public library, so they didn't give an exact time frame. I know that super important data is stored on gold discs like a record so there is no conceivable way that it will corrode or lose data...

that seems outta my price range though...

see thats what I thought though, I mean my dad's CD's from 1984 that work perfectly and they've been moved, stored all sortsa different ways etc. etc. I just don't know...I just think it's hokum. I mean in 50 years how much of an effect could gravity have on a disc anyway? Would it be warped by a micron? In which case there is no way that it will make a lick of difference. Or will it look like a circus tent (which would be AWESOME!).

All those AOL coasters suddenly look like party hats come 2050...

Wikipedia: (yeah yeah, OMG, Wikipedia, all lies)
Glass is generally classed as an amorphous solid rather than a liquid. [20] Glass displays all the mechanical properties of a solid. The notion that glass flows to an appreciable extent over extended periods of time is not supported by empirical research or theoretical analysis (see viscosity of amorphous materials). From a more commonsense point of view, glass should be considered a solid since it is rigid according to everyday experience.[21]



If the materials did migrate over time, it would be best that it would happen uniformly over the diameter of the disc. Leaving it vertically would make it take an oval shape and surely prevent it from working. Even still, that is total BS, the only way a disc will deform is if its made from poor materials (like a few earlier CDs were) or if it has been exposed to extreme heat/cold/sun/etc. or other unfavorable conditions.