I discovered that the students here in Mozambique are using CD-R disks as a type of Flash drive. They can record new files onto the disk and carry it with them. The price difference between a blank CD and a Flash drive is much cheaper. I think a blank CD must sell for maybe $2 while a Flash drive can be anywhere from $50 to $100. A CD-R is an excellent option for students and others who have limited access to a computer (at school or at the office) but want to keep their files safe.
The best investment in my opinion is a mobile phone with a USB adaptor. That can serve as portable storage, a phone, and a camera, and a…
I’ll admit I’m unclear on the distinction between CD-R and CD-RW. My understanding is that a CD-RW can be completely erased while a CD-R can only have more information added to it until it is full. Am I close?
Yes. A CD-RW can be added to over and over, and then erased and added to over and over, and then erased…
A CD-R can only be added to.
Thanks.
Be very careful recommending that people continue to add files to a CD-R. It has been my experience that when people do this they eventually lose everything except for the last thing added. VMS used to have this in their class notes as a way to back up and I warned them. The next day one of the instructors lost a lot of material. Use a CD-RW. The way they are written to is different and they work more like a Hard Drive. Be Safe!
Around here jump drives are extremely cheap… I wonder how long it will take for it to happen over there. I just checked the ads and you can can get a 2GB for about $5 and 4GB for less than $10… CDs only have up to 0.8GB of space.
You’re right (as has already been pointed out) about the distinction. And some of the warnings already offered are wise. Maybe the best advice would be to use a CD-RW if they can, and whenever they are working with the material on it, copy it all to the computer, make any edits they want to, and then rewrite the files (including any that have been changed) from scratch onto the CD-RW.
My concerns about using a CD-R in this way would be the danger of data-loss but also the potential for confusion between the increasing number of copies of the same document pile up on it.
By the time those make it to the market in Africa they are ten times the price and most Africans have a tenth of your income. So they’re pretty tough to buy. Still the prices are dropping.
Uh… isn’t this what we all did about ten years ago?
I did use CD-R on occasion as you’ve described David. Before flash drives the only other cheap option was floppy disks. I imagine that in the next 5 years they will be replaced by flash drives just as they have in most developed areas.