USB sticks are a great example of how technology is shrinking down near to a point of nonexistence. Not only is the physical size shrinking, but so is the price realtive to storage space.As explained by the article
Netac Technology OnlyDisk U220: World's Smallest Secure USB Drive? from July 12, 2006, the smallest USB stick was Netac Technology's OnlyDisk U220. It weighed in at half an ounce and measured in at 2 inches tall. The highest capacity was 2GB, which cost $92.
As of March 16, 2007 Kingmax Super Stick USB won the title of producing the smallest USB stick, showed in the article World’s Smallest USB Stick – This Week. This one is only 34mm x 12.4mm x 2.2mm and comes with up to 4GB of storage.
Now, the question is, where can we go from there? Size is no longer an issue when it come it small storage spaces? Will we get to the point where we have full hard drive s the size of a nickel? And what would that do for technology and society?
Flash drives are the best things ever invented to a student. Middle schools and high schools are even using this as a way to submit papers now. My only problem is that I always lose them because they are so small.
ReplyDeleteI love my little jump drive. Before I was taking classes my mental check list before moving to another location was keys, wallet, cell phone now my mental check list is keys, wallet, cell phone and jump drive. So far, I’ve only lost three of them but if I lost this one (which all my homework, notes and essay papers on it) would totally be up a creek. I have to ask, am I better off now that I don’t have to carry a 4” floppy disk around? Sure the jump drive is smaller and I can fit more stuff on it but they are so easy to lose. I guess the up side is that being that you can buy some jump drives for as cheap as ten dollars, losing them is not all that back assuming you have backed up your files
ReplyDeleteI too am a big fan of the flash drive. The funny thing Is I never even used them before this past year. I do know that they have saved my a$$ at work and at school. I'm not sure we need to do anything to the flash drives they are fine the way they are.
ReplyDeleteThe jump drive is such a great little invention. To have the ability to take that devise anywhere and have access to your saved documents etc. is a wonderful thing.
ReplyDeletethe flash drive was an awsome invention bt i don't want them smaller. the smaller they get the more i lose because they are quick to lose if you don't have them on a chain or something.
ReplyDeleteHere's another great device which brings up the question is smaller better? Flashdrives are almost a requirement now for college students, and they are extremely useful. You can store more information in this little device, than you could in heavy book bag full of work. The heavy book bag however, still holds several advantages. The book bag is less likely to malfunction and lose your data and because it weighs about 30 lbs more than a flashdrive, it's much less likely that you'll lose it. Maybe in the near future, they'll create a beeping device on flashdrives that you can call, in order to help you find them.
ReplyDeleteAs stated in the IBM’s Chip comment, we can only go so small, so large, and so quick before there is no point to further advances. Eventually, all manner of software, such as Word, Excel, to movies and games will be on these USB Drives. At the moment, the cost is prohibitive, but in the future, it will come down enough. Or at least, it would have been. We will instead use the Internet for downloading said material. Instead, flash drives will do something more important. That would be to replace our slow hard drives.
ReplyDeleteits amaizing how much information we can now carry on a KEYCHAIN. just a decade ago i don't think ay ordinary person would ever believe you if you were to tell them how mich info can be stored on such a small device. Those in the research field however im sure knew what was coming in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI do not know what I would do without a USB stick. Rather than burning the information on a CD or emailing it to me and then having to access it, it makes my life and I am sure everyone elses life easier. I like the pictures and it is fascinating on how small the USB sticks are getting.
ReplyDeleteI agree that USB sticks are convenient and make life alot easier when it comes to saving material. Before I use to email everything that I did at school and then I would have to through the process when I came home. Since I've had the USB stick I don't need to worry about emailing myself doucments no longer.
ReplyDeleteUSB are a very good invention and save a lot of space compared to the zip drives! I can remember my parents having a whole case full of zip drives. USB are also very easy to use and carry around!
ReplyDeleteLove these things! It makes it so much easier to transport information and it's great to know that you can save something if necessary. I have my jump drive on my keys and it's taken me out of a jamb on more than one occasion. If only MacGuyver had a jump drive...imagine what other things he could have done to save the world! I no longer have to rely on the internet working properly to work on a document on one computer and print it from another.
ReplyDeleteI just recently was introduced to USB drives. They are awesome! I don't really think they can get any smaller. I mean people are already carrying them around on their key chains. What's next?
ReplyDeleteI love flash drives.
ReplyDeleteThey save my life if I'm DJing and my USB craps out or my headshells break (yes, I still use vinyl too).
I can put an hour's worth of music on one to save me some time while I do some MacGuyver A/V work to get everything up and running again.
Oh, I heard they're useful for storing papers and photos, too.
These are great for almost everything. If anyone does not own one, they are out of their mind and should go buy one right away. The amount of store and the convenience for such a cheap price is truly awesome. One thing people neglect to do is back up their information, or they have it all backed up and saved in one spot (like all on their computer desk). a fire will wipe all of that out. If you have a flash drive, you have your information with you on the go, so if anything happens you arent at a total loss.
ReplyDelete