eli5: How come physical optical media has more or less settled on the 4.7” disc form factor?

Question

I know physical media for computer software and movies/music has dwindled in popularity with the advent of downloads and streaming, but it’s still around. And, despite upgrades in technology and storage capacity, it seems like we’re still going with the 4.7” optical disc.

CDs. DVDs. Blu-ray. Console games. All still use the good ol’ “CD” form factor after almost half a century.

What are the reasons for this? Is it just due to familiarity? Is the manufacturing and distribution infrastructure just too well established and not easy to change? Is there anything on the horizon to replace it? Or is “the disc” really just the end of the line for consumer physical media? Curious.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Backwards compatiblite. A cd/dvd/Blu-ray drive makes more sense if everything is the same shape