Q:
I see CD-ROM drives speeds listed at 24x, 32x, etc. What does that mean?

A:
It means that the CD-ROM drive is that many times faster than the original Proto-CD-ROM drive from caveman times. Just how fast was that? Well, the original CD drive transferred data at a rate of 153,600 bits per second (bps). If you have a CD-ROM drive that has a read speed of 32x, then data transfers at 4,915,200 bps!

The same goes for the write/re-write speed on your CD-R or CD-RW drive. If it is 8x, then it writes data at 1,228,800 bps.

We’ve come a long way in a short time!

~ David