the long answer is that DVD-R was developed by a group of companies and Sony wasn't one of them so they didn't feel like paying the licenceing fees and came up with their own recording format called DVD+R. DVD-RW and DVD+RW are the same but rewriteable.
Same data density, they don't spin opposite directions (overheard working at Gatway, I kid you not) and most newer DVD video players can handle both.
What I wish had taken off was the earliest standard, DVD-RAM which is, IIRC, faster and rewritable on the fly, but a lot more expensive. Creative had the drives very early on (I remember installing one in a customer's new machine in 2000) that used those caddys that early CD-ROM drives used. Oh well.
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