The CD-Rom drive is one of the most popular and still widely used forms of storage device for data that range from text, video, and audio for use in computers or anything with a CD drive. It has been around for over a decade. But unlike some technologies that have a shelf life of five years on average, the CD-Rom is still used today by millions of people. What is the secret to its longevity? Here are 10 facts about the CD-Rom as well as the CD-Rom drive:

Fact 1: ‘œCD-Rom’ means ‘œcompact disk read only memory’ and was developed in order to satisfy the need for larger memory storage in mobile devices.

Fact 2: Once the CD-Rom drive ‘œburns’ data onto a disk, it cannot be tampered with or replaced and is a permanent part of the specific CD.

Fact 3: On the other hand, a CD-RW is a type of disk wherein the data stored can be overwritten. This is the only type of CD-Rom that offers this option.

Fact 4: Not all CD-Roms are created equal, and each will have different data transferring speeds depending on their design.

Fact 5: The CD-Rom was actually introduced to the public in 1983 but didn’t find its niche until the 1990’s.

Fact 6: The standard memory capacity of a CD-Rom is 700MB, but it can be tweaked to add another 100MB with a little data error correction procedure.

Fact 7: Today, CD-Roms are still widely used to transfer data such as games and other multimedia programs.

Fact 8: When the CD-Rom was still in its infancy, the data transfer using a drive was excruciatingly slow with only a 1x speed compared to today which can go up to 48x and even higher.

Fact 9: The early versions of a CD-Rom drive will need a ‘œcaddy’ in order to read a disk. A CD is placed into one of those cases which is then inserted to the drive.

Fact 10: There are 2 sizes to the CD-Rom, the standard 120mm and the smaller 80mm ‘œMini-CD’ which holds only 180MB.