KODAK INTRODUCES ECONOMICAL WRITABLE CD SYSTEM SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22_Eastman Kodak Company today announced the introduction of a writable compact disc publishing system that promises to make it economical for hundreds of applications to benefit from the ability to write, store and retrieve information on CD. The announcement was made at the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference being held here. An outgrowth of the technology that created the new Kodak Photo CD system, the new Kodak Writable CD system is designed to offer commercial users a standard, low-cost alternative to traditional methods of publishing data CDs. The system consists of three parts: ù The Kodak PCD Writer 200, which writes and reads data to and from discs at twice the speed of conventional CD writers. The PCD Writer 200 also supports multi-session recording. ù The Kodak Writable CD disc, a write-once medium that can be read in standard CD hardware devices. Kodak Writable CD discs can store between 550 megabytes and 650 megabytes of data, text, images and digital audio, depending on the format. ù Kodak Publishing Software to drive the PCD Writer 200 from a customer's host computer. Kodak software will be available for DOS, Windows, Macintosh and Unix operating systems. "We've combined an economical medium, the Kodak Writable CD disc, with the double-speed PCD Writer 200," explained Georgia L. McCabe, worldwide manager, Commercial CD, in Kodak's CD Imaging unit. "The result is a CD authoring system that can publish discs for about $25 each, making it ideal for people who have not been able to justify pressing discs conventionally. "Anyone looking to distribute large sets of variable information, in quantities from one to 100, should look closely at Kodak Writable CD." "Limitless" Applications According to McCabe, likely customers for the writable CD system fall into four categories, all of which can benefit from the technology: large companies, where the discs can be written on demand as replacements for paper reports; low-volume publishers, who need to create small numbers of CD copies (and for whom the conventional pressing process is not economically attractive); "power" users at standalone PCs and workstations, especially those who need to exchange large data files and maintain back-up files; and reference archives, which need to store information on a standard medium that doesn't take up much space. "When you consider the different types of users, the number of applications for Kodak Writable CD discs is truly staggering," McCabe noted. "For example, it's now economical to keep maintenance manuals up to date on a computer system, and then 'print' them to CD on demand. A real estate firm can produce a custom disc containing specific listings for a relocating executive. And an engineering company can archive drawings to CD to save storage space and improve access. The possibilities are limitless." A Kodak Writable CD Publishing system is already at work at MCI, the telecommunications company, where billing records for large customers are being distributed on writable CD discs. "Hundreds of our large customers receive billing data on magnetic tape_ or boxes of paper_for analysis," said John Houser, an MCI spokesman. "The (CD-ROM) technology to put this data on disc for one-time use has been there, but not with this economy of scale for producing the first master." About the System The technology that led to development of the Kodak Writable CD system had its origins in the Kodak Photo CD system, the world's first high-volume writable CD application. In essence, the research that made it possible for photographic compact discs to be produced economically in the consumer market now has made low-volume, commercial production of data CDs viable as well. At the heart of the system is the PCD writer 200, which can transfer data at sustained rates as high as 307.2 kilobytes per second_twice as fast as writers from other manufacturers. The writer conforms to the proposed standard for write-once CD drives, and can write discs for playback on all standard CD devices, including CD-ROM and CD-ROM XA drives and CD-audio players. Other features of the PCD Writer 200 include built-in full error detection/correction, automatic disc write power calibration and a standard SCSI-II interface for connection to the user's host computer. The writer's multi-session recording capability complies fully with industry guidelines for appendability. "Because it grew out of a technology designed for consumer markets, the PCD writer 200 is designed to be extremely productive and easy to use," McCabe noted. "This is a device that will surprise people who are used to traditional, time-consuming methods of publishing discs." The second element of the new system, the Kodak writable CD disc, conforms to industry specifications for compatibility of blank media and partially and fully recorded discs. The disc's capacity of up to 650 megabytes means that it is capable of holding the equivalent of 240,000 pages of ASCII text; 550, 5 1/4-inch floppy discs; or three reels of 9-track tape. Given that capacity and a retail price of about $25, data stored on a Kodak writable CD disc would cost about $.04 per megabyte, compared with $.07 for 9-track tape, $1.07 for floppy discs and $4.54 for 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper. Discs are produced using the writer and Kodak publishing software, running on a PC, Macintosh or Unix workstation. The software formats the data in conformance with the ISO 9660 file and volume structure standard. Single session formatting software is available today for DOS and will be available in the near future for Macintosh and Unix. Multi-session software for these platforms will be available in the first half of 1993. Service and Availability The Kodak PCD writer 200, writable media and software all are available today from Kodak, as well as from selected value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators. In addition to selling components and systems, Kodak will provide a prototyping service that can assist larger customers in implementing writable CD technology for their applications. As part of this service, the company will evaluate the customer's needs, demonstrate conversion of data to a writable CD format and advise the customer on how best to use the technology. Once this analysis has been completed, Kodak can provide the customer with a turnkey system, or can arrange to offer on- or off-site disc-writing through its Kodak Imaging Services group. For further information about the Kodak Writable CD system, customers may call 1-800-242-2424, ext. 52. ### (Note: Kodak is a trademark.)