If one discards a medium - well in all languages I know, that is lifespan. End of cycle, for a product. The owner thought it's useless. Garbage can (recycle bin for eco countries).
At least I have 6 or 7 years old DVDR media. So I can comment on their characteristics. You cannot, as you discarded the "old" media ... but you still contradict people based on short term data (are you one of the 29, or maybe one of the 14 ->
http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?...5&postcount=56). Accelerated ageing tests are the base for the marketing claims and from time to time such tests are performed at independent laboratories. I never experienced myself a failing DVDR due to ageing, but also I don't buy ANY DVDR, like those from gasstations or groceries, and definitely I don't burn them at 16x or even at 22x.
When I installed Ubuntu, some 2-3 years ago, the installation routine had a bug (like the windows syndrome, the installation procedure can lock on minimal specs PCs due to lack of resources), yet the first 3 answers in the FAQ were: 1.
burn at less than 8x, 2.
burn at less than 8x and 3.
burn at less than 8x , and of course the 4th was
Use Verify after burning. Wow, so it appears that people got coasters right from the burner. And I mean the bulk of the population, not isolated cases. And that was 2008 or 2009. Before burnproof technologies appeared, the only coasters were produced by buffer-underrun issues. Wasn't that a decrease in quality?