DataPlay

---

title: "DataPlay" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["digital-audio-storage", "audiovisual-introductions-in-2002", "privately-held-companies-based-in-colorado", "optical-computer-storage", "defunct-computer-companies-of-the-united-states", "defunct-computer-hardware-companies", "computer-storage-companies"] description: "Obsolete optical disc-based storage medium" topic_path: "technology/computing" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DataPlay" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Obsolete optical disc-based storage medium ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	DataPlay Inc.
type	Incorporation
founder	Steve Volk
foundation	1998
location	[[Image:Flag of the United States.svg
key_people	Bill Almon, Jr., CEO and President
Jeff Roberts, CFO
products	DataPlay Engine
DataPlay 500MB Optical Media
num_employees	~30 (2006)
homepage	www.DataPlay.com (defunct)
::

| name = DataPlay Inc. | type = Incorporation | founder = Steve Volk | foundation = 1998 | location = [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] Longmont, Colorado, USA | key_people = Bill Almon, Jr., CEO and President Jeff Roberts, CFO | products = DataPlay Engine DataPlay 500MB Optical Media | num_employees = ~30 (2006) | parent = | homepage = www.DataPlay.com (defunct) | footnotes = DataPlay is an optical disc system developed by DataPlay Inc. and released to the consumer market in 2002. Using tiny (32mm-diameter) disks enclosed in a protective cartridge, it stored 250MB per side and was intended primarily for portable music playback. However, it could also store other types of data using pre-recorded disks and user-recorded disks (and disks that combined pre-recorded content with a writable area). It supported multisession recording. DataPlay Inc. was founded in 1998 by Steve Volk. The company's namesake optical disc won the CES Best of Show award in 2001.

DataPlay also included an elaborate digital rights management system designed to allow consumers to "unlock" extra pre-recorded content on the disk at any time, through the internet, following the initial purchase. It was based on the Secure Digital Music Initiative's DRM system. DataPlay's DRM system was one of the reasons behind its attractiveness to the music industry. It also included a proprietary file system, DataPlay File System (DFS) which natively supported DRM. By default, it would allow up to 3 copies to other DataPlay discs, without allowing any copies to CDs.

History

DataPlay Inc. was founded by Steve Volk in 1998. Volk had founded DataPlay in the aftermath of his second company Intégral Peripherals going bankrupt in 1998. Intégral was the first to manufacture 1.8-inch hard drives—at the time the smallest form factor for hard drives—for laptops and other mobile computing devices, starting in 1992. Volk intended for Intégral to supplant the industry-standard 2.5-inch hard drive form factor introduced by PrairieTek—the first company that Volk had co-founded. After the failure of Intégral, Volk decided to focus on the optical media sector.

The recorded music industry was initially generally supportive of DataPlay, and a small number of pre-recorded DataPlay disks were released, including the Britney Spears album Britney. Graphics on press releases show that Sting and Garth Brooks were also set to have DataPlay releases. In 2021 the first DIY DataPlay album was released by the experimental rave producer Backmasker. However, as a pre-recorded format, DataPlay was a failure. The company closed due to a lack of funding. In 2003 a company called DPHI bought DataPlay's intellectual property and reintroduced it at CES 2004. The company swapped DataPlay's DFS file system for the FAT file system. Again, they were marketed as a cheaper alternative to memory cards, with a device being designed that would allow users to transfer data from an SD card to a cheaper DataPlay disc. Each disc would hold 500 megabytes of data and be sold at just US$4.50. DPHI also prototyped 750 megabyte DataPlay discs and announced plans for 2 and 7 gigabyte discs, the latter of which would use a blue-violet semiconductor laser, just like Blu-ray.

Very few products were seen on the market that could write data to these discs. Most notable was the Topy Mini Writer, which retailed for $130 (USD) and housed an optical pickup unit (image No.4) with a USB interface board, allowing the use of DataPlay discs much like other end-user writable optical media (e.g., CD-Rs). Other products were the iriver IDP-100 and the MTV Video Device "MTV FLIP", which both housed the prototype-based model (image No.2).

DataPlay discs were first proposed as a low-cost alternative to memory cards, which used to cost US$3 per megabyte. Blank DataPlay discs, by comparison, would hold 500 megabytes of data at US$10 per disc. They are also expected to have a 100-year lifespan. The discs would be made out of polycarbonate, just like CDs, but would be just 0.6mm thick, just like one half of a DVD (DVDs are made up of two halves that are bonded using glue; usually only one (side) contains data). Rewritable DataPlay discs would be similar to CDs, using a phase change alloy protected by a silicon oxide layer. Mastered (replicated) DataPlay discs would combine both pits and lands to store mastered data and grooves containing a wobble frequency to store rewritable data. Like on CDs, the wobble frequency would store time data to position the laser on the disc precisely.

It has two rewritable areas: one for user data and the other for encrypted data. The latter of which would hold the decryption keys necessary to unlock the extra content. They also have a burst cutting area to uniquely identify each disc. DataPlays can transfer data at 1 megabyte per second.

Other trademark names:

• DaTARIUS
• DPHI
• DataPlay

Gallery

File:DataPlayDev.jpg|DataPlay optical drive engine development photo of a development platform for testing and demo File:DataPlayProto.jpg|DataPlay optical drive engine internals viewed from above a unit produced without any top cover; above the circular piece is the laser pickup. The laser pickup is built on a piece of silicon. File:Drive unit with its case as if it were sent to dataplay.jpg|DataPlay optical drive engine with its case (a never-used piece from a private collection) File:DataplayDrive.jpg|DataPlay optical drive engine top (same as No.3) File:DataplayDrive2.jpg|DataPlay optical drive engine bottom (same as No.3) The large coin-like object is a motor for spinning the disc, and the metal piece at its left is a magnet; the laser pickup of the drive is mounted on an arm that is moved using a mechanism, the latter two of which are reminiscent of that of modern hard disks.

References

References

1. "DataPlay Discs Put a New Spin on Digital Music - The Washington Post". [[The Washington Post]].
2. (June 8, 2001). "PCWorld.com - DataPlay Shows Breakthrough in Storage Media".
3. (January 11, 2001). "Consumer Electronics Show 2001".
4. "New disc format enters crowded market".
5. "Archived copy".
6. Chediak, Mark. (September 15, 2001). "A cross section of privately held storage companies". RHC Media.
7. Forgrieve, Jane. (December 30, 2002). "Downsizing DataPlay". Tribune Publishing.
8. (2001-06-12). "". link
9. "Backmasker -The Anti Clutter Weapon ( DataPlay )Breakbeat Hardcore on worlds rarest music format".
10. admin. (2024-08-24). "DataPlay: The rise and fall of a Forgotten Optical Disc Technology".
11. (October 3, 2002). "DataPlay shuts down operations".
12. (October 17, 2002). "Cash crunch puts media format on hold - Tech News - CNET.com".
13. (October 8, 2004). "DataPlay Discs Stage a Comeback".
14. "iRiver iDP-100 MP3 player".
15. (November 16, 2001). "PCWorld.com - DataPlay's Tiny Media to Ship Next Quarter".
16. (September 12, 2001). "DataPlay signs distribution deal with Imation - Tech News - CNET.com".
17. (June 19, 2001). "DataPlay, Imation play with tiny CDRs".
18. "Archived copy".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::