CD-ROM disks and drives are enjoying a brief Indian summer, because of advances in technology and the low cost of producing CD-ROM disks. The Commercial Times reports that Taiwanese manufacturers are readying 44x, 48x, 50x CD-ROM drives, breaking the accepted 40x ceiling for CD-ROM drives. AOpen Inc is developing a 44x drive, while Acer Peripherals Inc will soon begin the manufacture of a 48x model. Behavior Tech Computer Corp is claiming that it can produce a software-assisted 50x to 60x speed drive. This flurry of activity in what had been considered a dying market, has been prompted by the fact that digital video disk (DVD) drives – supposedly the CD-ROM killer – have not yet hit the market in high volumes, as had been expected. In addition, rewritable CD disks and drives have dropped significantly in price, making them an inexpensive storage option. However, the CD-ROM renaissance looks likely to be short-lived. A spokesperson for Acer Group in the UK said that the company was looking at DVD drives as the next step for high end and consumer market sectors, regulating CD-ROM to a low-end option. Meantime, it is not clear if the new Taiwanese drives will ever be shipped outside their home markets. The Acer spokesperson was unaware of any plans to release their 48x model in the UK and 32x is currently the fastest drive offered.
