Blu-ray drives are in Playstations and Xboxen; if those drives can be cannibalized and used in a computer there will be millions available in the used market. Or you could jailbreak a console and install Linux just to use the drive.
Right now, today, I can just buy a Blu-ray burner at my nearby big box.
In 1997, I could say the same about Zip because Zip drives were everywhere until they weren’t because consumer behavior changed and CD-RW replaced the market.
There are still working Zip drives, but not a terrible many. Running one is only a matter of conjuring up a parallel port or scsi connection. Nevertheless most people who bet on Zip archives have regretted it sooner or later…and probably sooner.
Drives that read CD-R are almost anything that reads DVD or Blu-ray, plus all but the earliest CD drives. There’s not going to be a need to compete with gamers or retro computing enthusiasts.
That’s what I want in an archive strategy based on my experience over almost forty years. For me, archiving is enough of a project without involving jailbreaking a game console.
But that’s me and my bet. Other people have other priorities and I respect that.
