Storage Media: DVD-RWThe evolution of faster computers and larger computer programs has made it necessary to develop newer, faster ways to store large masses of data. Constant advancements from 5 ¼ inch floppy disks to 3 ½ inch floppy disks, high capacity floppy disks, zip drives, and CD-RW drives make it seem as if by the time of the upgrade, the technology is already obsolete . So, what is the near future of storage media? The newest storage media that is rapidly advancing over CD-RW is DVD-RW. The price of DVD-RW drives is falling, almost as fast as their speed increases. Over the past 18 months, their price has been reduced by half, and it is easy to predict that in the near future DVD-RW drives will become the standard of storage media. According to JB Miles of Government Computer News, rewritable DVD drives are on sale. 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 for capacity and versatility. They can read, write and rewrite up to 4.7 GB of information per side of the disc and will read both DVD-ROM discs and most CDs, so the music CDs you have collected will not be not wasted. (Miles 2002) Currently, there are two major formats competing to become the standard for DVD-R and RW. The formats are DVD+R and DVD-R. In the past, it was difficult to decide which one to invest in when purchasing a new DVD-RW drive. However, recently released DVD-RW drives, such as Sony's DRU-500A, are capable of writing to both formats. Not only does this new Sony drive write DVD+RW and +R at 2.4X, but it also writes competing DVD-R and DVD-RW formats at 4X and 2X, twice as fast as DVD-R and DVD drives -Current dedicated RWs. . In addition to this, it is also capable of burning CD-Rs at 24X and CD-RWs at 10X. This could be very beneficial considering the low cost of CD-Rs compared to DVD-Rs. Technology doesn't stop at DVD players. Actual DVDs will also see upgrades. Increasingly faster write speeds will reduce the time it takes to write 4.7 gigabytes. Maxell recently announced that it will release its new DVD line in February. 2002.