The year is 2006. You are a teenager with a brand-new Dell desktop, a 160GB hard drive, and a burner that can write DVDs at 16x speed—if you’re brave enough to push it. Your mission: burn the ultimate mix CD for your crush, Sarah. Your weapon: Nero 7.

You double-click the familiar flame icon. The splash screen appears— Nero 7 Ultra Edition —and the system groans. Fans spin up. RAM usage spikes. But you don't care. This is power.

You find an ancient 700MB TDK disc from 2002. You burn again—this time at 16x. The bar moves smoothly. 72%. 89%. 100%. Writing completed successfully. A chime plays. You hold the disc to the light. No errors. You wrote your feelings in pits and lands.