The only thing that surprises me about this holographic storage medium being delayed is that it’s being delayed till 2009 and not 2029. I remember reading about the idea some time ago in some rag like SciAm or New Scientist and it was being trumped as a major breakthrough, but I figured it was one of those breakthroughs that never takes off. That remains to be seen, but I’m impressed that they’re going to have a product out in my lifetime (if I can be allowed to hope to live till next year).
The technology is interesting, but unfortunately, the prognosis is a bit grim: at $18,000 for a writer and $180 per 300GB disc, even for high-end storage it’s a bit much for an unproven technology. Still, it seems that the investors behind it have faith in it, so maybe by the time they roll out their 800GB and 1.6TB discs there will be a real market for it.