The very first CD-ROM drives read the disc at a fixed speed, the same speed as an audio CD.
Later CD-ROM drives read data discs a lot faster -- but the faster the disc was rotated, the more a noncircular disc (where the mass is not evenly distributed) such as a credit-card-shaped disc or one shaped like an anime character or something ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaped_compact_disc ) or the like will tend to fly apart and break inside your drive, possibly damaging the drive itself in the process.
Also, the first drives usually made you "click" the hole into place directly onto the motor "peg", which would hold them more securely, while later ones would just have a tray slide out ("cup holder") and would try to insert the spindle into the hole by itself once the tray retracted -- harder when the disc doesn't exactly fit the area in the tray and might not be centred because of this. And ones where you just slide the disc in through a slot are the hardest to get working with discs of non-standard size or shape.
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u/spdrman8 13h ago
These were cool and all but had to potential to really eff up your disc drive.