how good is the data reliability with CD ROM and DVD RAM?

[Charles Dickman]

Below is a sampling of disks recorded between 2001 and 2009. It is
likely that the disks of the same type were from the same package
because I don't use many disks. They were stored without much care,
but in a spaces tolerable to humans for reasonable periods.

Imation     CD-R    recorded 2003/12/29  readable
Imation     CD-R    recorded 2004/01/02  recoverable errors
Imation     CR-R    recorded 2001/12/18  recoverable errors
Imation     CD-R    recorded 2005/07/15  recoverable errors
Imation     CD-R    recorded 2001/12/24  recoverable errors
TDK          DVD-R recorded 2006/02/05  recoverable errors
TDK          DVD-R recorded 2009/09       unrecoverable errors. The
edges of the disk have a strange faded coloration.
TDK          DVD-R recorded 2007/10/07  readable
Memorex  CD-R    recorded 2005            unrecoverable errors

-chuck