CD-ROM

At the turn of the 1980s, personal computing operated on floppy disk time. These small plastic squares, fragile and limited to a few hundred kilobytes, were the primary means of exchanging programs and data. The idea that a single disk could contain the equivalent of several hundred floppies belonged to the realm of science fiction. Yet this revolution was already taking shape in Philips laboratories.

The story begins with optical storage research conducted by the Dutch company during the 1970s. Philips engineers were working on the VLP system, a technology that etched analog video signals onto a plastic disc read by laser. These experiments, initially intended to replace video cassettes, would open a completely unexpected path. From this work would emerge first the audio Compact Disc, then its computing descendant: the CD-ROM.

The collaboration between Philips and Sony resulted in the 1983 announcement of the CD-ROM, an acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory. The two electronics giants jointly defined the technical specifications in the famous "Yellow Book," a reference document that established the rules for the new format. The concept adopted the physical dimensions of the audio CD: a polycarbonate disc 12 cm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, scanned by an infrared laser that deciphers information engraved as microscopic grooves.

But where the audio CD stores music, the CD-ROM organizes data differently. It offers two operating modes. Mode 1 prioritizes reliability for computer data through an enhanced error correction system. Mode 2 is intended for compressed audio and video content, accepting minor errors imperceptible to the human ear or eye.

The storage capacity revolutionized habits: 650 MB at once, equivalent to 450 standard floppies. With this sudden abundance, software publishers could finally design ambitious applications without worrying about space constraints. Gone were the days of having to cut features to fit on a few floppies.

The first CD-ROM drives hit the market in 1985. These expensive and relatively sluggish machines displayed a transfer speed of 150 KB/s, dubbed "single speed" or "1X" in technical jargon. Adoption was initially limited, reserved for professionals and affluent enthusiasts. It would take until the early 1990s for the technology to truly find its audience.

The rise of multimedia changed everything. Video game and educational software developers discovered the possibilities offered by this new storage capacity. Where Windows 95 required no fewer than 13 floppies in its basic version, the CD-ROM version fit on a single disc and drastically simplified installation. No more juggling a stack of floppies, monitoring insertion order, or restarting the procedure when one proved defective.

The video game industry seized the opportunity. The CD-ROM enabled the integration of cinematic-quality video sequences, orchestral music, and detailed graphics previously unthinkable. Sony built the success of its PlayStation on this technology, abandoning expensive cartridges to bet on CD-ROM. Games took on new dimensions, studios could tell complex stories with multiplied production resources.

The race for speed was on. Manufacturers competed ingeniously to accelerate data reading. From 1X, speeds progressed to 2X, 4X, 8X and far beyond, reaching 52X in the early 2000s. This surge in performance was accompanied by a spectacular drop in prices. Drives, initially sold for several thousand francs, became accessible to the general public. Blank discs followed an identical trajectory, transforming the CD-ROM into an affordable archival medium.

Technical evolution didn't stop there. In 1988, CD-R appeared, finally allowing users to burn their own discs. This innovation democratized the production of custom CDs, paving the way for individual backups and data exchange between individuals. The CD-RW storage medium, introduced in 1997, took an additional step toward versatility by allowing data erasure and rewriting.

Standardization was the key to this success. Technical specifications were subject to strict international standards, with ISO 9660 notably defining the universal file system. This approach, inherited from the 1985 "High Sierra" format, guaranteed that a CD-ROM burned on one machine could be read on any other, regardless of the drive manufacturer.

The CD-ROM spawned a large family of derivative formats. CD-i targeted interactive multimedia applications, Video CD attacked the home video market, Photo CD revolutionized digital image storage. These variations met with mixed fortunes, but testified to the conceptual richness of the original medium.

The CD-ROM made possible the distribution of multimedia encyclopedias like Encarta, exhaustive documentary collections, and voluminous professional databases. It directly contributed to the multimedia explosion of the 1990s, a period when the personal computer ceased being a simple word processing machine to become a family entertainment center.

This hegemony began to falter in the early 2000s. The DVD, with its superior storage capacity, gradually relegated the CD-ROM to secondary status. The arrival of high-speed Internet and the widespread adoption of USB flash drives accelerated the process. The dematerialization of software, downloaded directly from publishers' servers, dealt an additional blow to physical media.