Ever tried sticking one of those crazy Mini CD/DVD disks into your Mac’s slot-loading drive? I know people who have and, uh, it ain’t no fun. Especially the whole getting-it-out part. (Or maybe that was the fun part). With the slot-loading drives, you’re limited to only using full sized disks — mini CDs get jammed, and the drive can’t read them. Which is kind of a bummer, really, because from time to time you will run into a mini disk you want to use, and the growing use of slot-loading drives is preventing companies from taking advantage of the tinier technology.
Apple may be a huge proponent of slot-loading drives, which eliminates their ability to use mini-media — but, of course, they want it both ways. Via MacRumors:
Apple points out that the use of reduced-size media when possible would reduce shipping, manufacturing, and packaging costs. However, such media cannot be played in slot-loading drives that are designed to only accept standard-sized 12 cm media.
So what are they gonna do about it? The filed a patent for a “Mini CD/DVD-Rom Adapter,” that will let users stick one of those tiny disks into a full-sized-CD-like adapter so it’ll work in slot-loading drives.
Obviously, Apple patents a lot of stuff, and very little of it actually makes it to production. But with Apple constantly pushing small — smaller iLife/iWork/OS X boxes, etc. — it doesn’t seem far-fetched for them to start pushing reduced-size disks for cheaper costs (and make a little extra selling the consumers the adapter in the process).
Check AppleInsider’s analysis and the raw patent data (#20070271577) for more info.
the nintendo wii seems to have that figured out already as it is able to take small disks and full size disks in the same slot loading drive.
@delos: Which may be exactly why they would need to do something like this, if Nintendo has a patent on that technology.
Uh... CDs came out when I was in grade school, and my family finally caught up by the time I got into high school. I remember buying a few "CD singles" around '89-'90 that came on mini-CDs with an adapter like the one pictured above to make them full sized. Patents expire in 20 years, right? So its getting close to 20 years from when I first saw something like this. Did Apple's Time Machine get out of control and accidentally send adapters backwards in time? Cool! Seriously, they can't be serious. This idea is so been there and done that. If I could find the energy to get off the couch then I could browse my wall of CDs that go back nearly 20 years and find some examples. In fact, I think I can see one from here. But my powerbook is weighing down my lap ... can't ... get ... up ... saturday
Aren't they going to have trouble patenting something that already exists. Most cheap stores have these on sale already and I've seen a few packs in Kmart.
I recall back several years ago, there was a short trend of releasing singles on these mini discs, and there already was something like this on the market, long before slot loading drives on computers.