how come they don't make blank double sided media?

This is a good idea, indeed. I was wondering about the same thing once.
Anyway, I have seen a CD-R here in Germany which was double sided. I think it was from Okano, but I am not sure.

There are double sided DVD, and there are DVD-s with more than one layer.
The double sided DVD is like two DVD's glued together, while layered ones have 2 reflective layer on one side.
http://www.disctronics.co.uk/technology/dv...o/dvd_specs.htm

Can you buy a drd burner drive which can write to dual layered double sided dvds (dvd-18) disks ???

There are DVD burners which can burn dvd-18. (after burning one side you have to put the disc upside down into the drive and burn the second side.)

check this thread.

I allways wonder how a burner burn the data behind the semitransparent data-layer?

It doesn't. Dual layer DVD-R or CD-R discs don't exist.

and apparently even double sided dvd-/+r and cd-r don't exist.

http://www.dvdrw.com/press/duallayer.htm

Really?

That kicks so much ass. That is what I have been waiting for before I bought a DVDxR recorder. I wonder if it will be out much before the blue-laser 30gig disks? If not, there won't really be much point.

One of the concerns might be that if one of the two sides is a burn-defeat (coaster), you might consider tossing that blank media that was double the price of a regular one, if not more. Also, same thing *might* follow if one side is scratched up

Double sided DVD recordables are getting hard to find these days.

In the beginning, they were kind of necessary to backup most movies.
But now that we have excellent transcoding softwares, like DVDShrink, you can get very good quality in a single-sided, normal DVD, which of course is a more convenient and resistant media.

And once DVD dual-layer recordables hit the market, you can bet the "normal ones" we use today will dissappear just as fast!

Yeah, I've seen that. Alright, dual-layer DVD-R's DO exist but they're not out on the market yet.

i don't like to reencode my videos so i have many which are 2 discs. it would be great to fit them on 1.

also, double-sided media would be very usefull for people on the road with mp3/cd players or even regular cd players.