will CD-PROM Prove CD-R's real KODAK MOMENT? - Company Business and Marketing

Emedia Professional, Sept, 1999 by Robert A. Starrett

You almost feel sorry for Kodak sometimes. Photo CD was a failure. Their impressive 6X recorder and Disc Transporter were reliable, but too pricey for most customers who needed them. They apparently did not have a contingency plan for pricing and development when the targeted photofinishers didn't bite. Of course, their media has a great reputation, but otherwise they've struggled.

This summer, Eastman Kodak Company announced the availability of CD-PROM, which they call an "innovative new type of compact disc." CD-PROM, or Compact Disc Programmable Read-Only Memory is a "hybrid" disc, a recordable CD that already contains data when shipped. The concept is not new it was defined in the Orange Book, Chapter 11. Part 1 states, "A Hybrid disc is a multisession disc of which the first Session is a Mastered Session." The Orange Book requirements for a recorded disc must be met by both the mastered and the recorded portion of the disc. The only twist here is that the specifications for maximum Rtop and variation of push pull, as described in the Red Book, can be fulfilled by the recorded and mastered parts separately.

What makes the Hybrid disc possible in theory is the fact that a CD-R stamper is not required to contain only an impression that stamps the pregroove. A portion of the stamper can contain data, like a stamper for mass replication, and the remainder of the stamper makes the pregroove that fills the remainder of the disc, thus allowing it to be recordable.

Kodak's version uses modulated grooves that have the appearance of pits and a pregroove that follows. Kodak says that it uses a "newly formulated phthalocyanine dye" across the whole of the disc. This dye, in conjunction with the gold reflective layer, allows a CD laser to read through the dye on the stamped portion of the disc.

Currently, Kodak uses the technology in its Picture CD product, which allows photofinishers to scan photos and write them to the disc in JPEG format. The Picture CD viewing, cataloging, and editing tools are all on the stamped portion of the disc and ready to install. Down the road, one could envision a version of the Picture CD application that allowed end users to write their own JPEGs, whether their source is scanned photos, digital camera files, or graphics downloaded from the Internet. The Picture CD software could then index these images and present them within the application, bypassing the need to have a photofinisher create the discs.

While it is necessary for Kodak to maintain good relationships with their photofinishers, the lack of an end-user Picture CD application released concurrently with the format may make Picture CD as short-lived as Photo CD. More and more people are buying and using digital cameras; they have control over the files and a product that would let them take advantage of that control and produce Picture CDs on their desktops, rather than having to pay the photofinisher. Although Kodak says that the "future direction of the technology will include products that allow end-users to write on CD-PROM discs at the desktop," the future is now.

The Audio Angle

Some of the uses for CD-PROM discs are piracy protection, customized CD-ROM content discs and distribution of databases that can be updated at field offices and sent back for the production of a new master disc. In the audio arena, music distributors who now distribute enhanced CDs with both Red Book audio and MP3, a2b, or Liquid Audio files on them could have the compressed music, the players, and supporting software stamped on the disc and would only need to record Red Book tracks before shipping a custom disc, although the mixed-mode limitations remain.

Another interesting audio application is the ability to distribute a hundred or so songs on the stamped portion of the disc, allowing the user to choose which tracks he likes and then record them to the remaining portion of the disc as Red Book with existing CD recording software. CeQuadrat WinOnCD Power Edition 3.6 and Easy CD Creator 4.0 both have the ability to record MP3s to disc as Red Book with a simple drag-and-drop operation.

The Price You Pay

Kodak says CD-PROM pricing is negotiated on a case-by-case basis "depending on the application." This sounds to me like those who can will pay and those who are not so well off may be locked out. Pricing the product on the basis of megabytes stamped would seem more sensible, even though there should be minimal time differences in creating a CD-PROM stamper for 1MB or for 300MB. Time will tell whether the pricing structure as currently constituted--that is, on a case-by-case basis depending on the application--will be a successful strategy.

Kodak does, however, seem to have all the bases covered. If Picture CD doesn't work out, or even if it does, someone else will produce a compelling application for cataloging digital images to CD on the desktop using CD-PROM as the core media. And so Kodak will still sell a lot of CD-PROM discs. Thinking of applications for the CD-PROM technology is easy. There are hundreds of them. And Kodak has filed the patents and holds the technology that can make them possible. Whether they can capitalize on a golden opportunity will become apparent soon enough.