It uses an ion beam in a vacuum to drastically decrease the size of pits and lands with-out the smearing that happens in normal atmosphere. Corporations are continuing to by these advancements because they lead to cheaper and faster storage. Holographic crystals are used to store finger-prints in Japan, but still have not hit widespread use. Reliability Seek-time Versatility Density of information easily divides the many storage mediums as well as the specific vendors offering the products. The most dense floppy is Super disk, which contains etched servo-information that allows more tracks on the disk.
Reliability goes to the storage media as well as the tracking ability of the driver.
The laser tracker tends to be more reliable then the flyers and the reliability of the ion beam is even greater because of the vacuum. The storage media tend to be reliable in the same order. The electro-magnetic disks, can be demagnetized, or contaminated. The tape can be stretched, folded, demagnetized, or contaminated. The CD's and DVD's can be scratched.