According to ZDNet, the first holographic hard drives and compatible players/burners produced by InPhase Technologies will arrive on the market starting next month. The principle is relatively simple. Depending on the angle used in reading, light is reflected in a different manner. In practice, this still requires the use of a reference beam and an illumination beam to create the reference pattern which will be recorded on the media.
At a price of $18000 per storage unit, from $180 for the 300 GB drive in 5" ½ format and an archive life of 50 years, the tapestry300r first and foremost is intended for the archiving market. With a density that can be strongly increased and a price that isn’t abnormally high, holographic storage could be an interesting technology for more generalized consumers.
