They are known to delaminate, become easily unreadable with scratches, and are dependent upon a technology which is advancing rapidly and likely to render current disks unusable in a decade or so. They can be circulated. I'm assuming that almost no libraries circulate copies of bound journals.
Patrons get to drop their dimes or copycards into machines and get copies.
True enough, but rapidly changing. The comments are amusing because the librarians who have commented don't seem to have a clue about electronic journals that are rapidly evolving and starting to replace their hardcopy equivalents. We would like to share our own experiences in trying to control costs and increases in subscription rates while trying to maintain quality and meet the needs of our readers. In 1993, the Society made the decision to move to a new publisher, a decision that was not made lightly. The reasons for the move included the need to have more control over both publication costs and subscription rates.