Are the days for CDs, DVDs, Zip drives over? A computer whizkid is revolutionizing the computer data storage through his Rainbow Technology.

A student has developed a technique for portable data whereby the data can now be stored on ordinary paper. And to boot, larger amount of data can be had on lesser space. The immediate question that pops up in the mind is how to retrieve the data. Will it be as facile as feeding a floppy disc or CD into the drive and having it on the monitor? Perhaps it will be much easier than all that. The piece of paper or even plastic sheet storing the data has just to be scanned in the scanner and read over the monitor.

Named as 'Rainbow Technology', the new technique is the brainchild of Sainul Abideen, who has just finished his MCA from MES Engineering College in Kuttipuram in Kerala's Malappuram district.


         Sainul explaining some features of his Rainbow Technology storage device.

Low cost, high speed
The extremely low cost technology will drastically reduce the cost of storage and provide for high speed storage too. Files in any format like movie files, songs, images, text can be stored using this technology.

Currently of the several options available for data storage, DVDs constitute the best mode. But a high quality DVD which is very costly can store just about 4.7 gigabyte (GB) of data.

In contrast, the Rainbow Versatile Disc (RVD) can store 90 to 450 GB of data. And Sainul has simultaneously developed a scanning drive based on his Rainbow software which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies. Sainul says a CD/DVD consume 16 gm of polycarbonate, a petroleum byproduct.

While a CD costs Rs. 15, his paper or plastic made RVD would cost just about Rs. 1.50 and would have a 131 times more storage capacity.

Sainul who has just turned 24, says, instead of using zeroes and ones for computing, he has used geometric shapes like circles, squares and triangles for computing which combine with various colours and preserve the data in images. An RVD therefore looks like a print-out  of the modern art. He says all kinds of data has to be first converted into a common format called 'Rainbow Format'.

In a demo at his college laboratory, this author could see text typed on 432 pages of foolscap paper being stored in a four square inch paper. The author was even shown a 45-second video clip of a Malayalam film stored on an ordinary paper piece.

Sainul was guided by Prof. Hyderali, head of the MCA Department of the College in all these projects.

Biodegradable
Sainul says the biggest advantage of the new technology would be the biodegradable nature of his storage devices which would do away with the e-waste pollution.

He says with the popularity of his Rainbow Technology, computer or fashion magazines in future need not carry CDs in a pack.

The computable data printed on a paper can be attached in a tearable sheet and will be capable of carrying even software programmes, or movies, MP3 data or text.

Disposable storage
Sainul is promoting the theme of disposable storage and says newspapers, magazines and video albums could benefit from the idea and also distribute their material in this form in order to curtail use of paper and facilitate the disposal of the waste.

Sainul is simultaneously moulding the technology into 'Rainbow Cards' which will be of SIM card size and store 5 GB of data equivalent to three films of DVD quality. Sainul says as 'Rainbow Cards' will become popular, Rainbow Card Readers will replace CD drives of mobile phone and computer notebooks and will enable more data in portable forms for mini digital readers. Large scale manufacture of the Rainbow card will bring down its cost to just 50 paise.

Sainul Abideen is currently in consultation with a UK based company for manufacture of the Rainbow Cards.

Databank next?
Sainul has also put forward the idea of DataBank with Rainbow Technology which will enable huge servers with a high storage capacity.

Outing a research study carried out in the US in 2003, he says the entire static data in the US would require US 500 crore (Indian Rupees 23,000 crore) for storage with the current storage devices. But Rainbow based DataBank could reduce the cost to Rs. 35 lakh.

He says he could construct DataBank with almost 123.60 Peta Byte (PB) capacity.

Sainul is also working on project Xpressa, a software package for regional languages. This will enable the Internet browser to access the newspapers available on Internet through mobile phone in audible form.