Look, it's a low powered red laser... the heat generated by the laser itself is next to nothing. It is the CD Vibrating (resonating) that causes it to shatter.
Think of it like a high wind and a badly designed bridge...same principal.
as the disc spins up to speed, it begins to oscillate... the vibration alone from the resonance frequency causes the disk to shatter.
Where this urban myth about the laser getting to hot came from I'd love to know, cause if it was getting THAT hot, the disc would melt before it shatters... and in the shards of CD floating around in the drive, there would be evidence of it melting. As for the Cd's being hot when they come out of the drive... that's just from the heat generated from the electronic components and the motor. nothing more, nothing less.
besides, if a small DVD/CD-rom CD/DVD writer laser could generate such massive heat, don't you think they would be used to shoot down aircraft or something... get real
