Using tiny (32mm diameter) disks enclosed in a protective cartridge storing 250MB per side, DataPlay was intended primarily for portable music playback.

[3] DataPlay also included an elaborate digital rights management system designed to allow consumers to "unlock" extra pre-recorded content on the disk at any time, through the internet, following the initial purchase.

[8] In 2021 the first DIY DataPlay album was released by the experimental rave producer Backmasker.

[11][12] In 2003 a company called DPHI bought DataPlay's intellectual property and reintroduced it at CES 2004.

Most notable was the Topy Mini Writer, which retailed for $130 (USD) and housed an optical pickup unit (image No.4) with a USB interface board, allowing the use of DataPlay discs much like other end-user writable optical media (e.g., CD-Rs).

[citation needed] DataPlay discs were first proposed as a low-cost alternative to memory cards, which used to cost US$3 per megabyte.

[5] Rewritable DataPlay discs would be similar to CDs, using a phase change alloy protected by a silicon oxide layer.

Like on CDs, the wobble frequency would store time data to position the laser on the disc precisely.