19 Dec
2009
19 Dec
'09
7:05 p.m.
On 19 Dec 2009 at 21:08, Tim Shoppa wrote:
What's really cool, is both the USB keychain and
the terabyte
portable drive use the same cheap and ubiquitous low-end interface.
That is an improvement over 30 years ago (don't take that as a slam
against the Unibus, if I wanted to insult the Unibus I would call it
"cheap and ubiquitous" 30 years ago!)
You miss the point. Suppose I have a small amount of data--consider,
for example, the electronic equivalent of a memo, or a business card,
a musical score, a simple diagram that I've jotted down.
I'm not going to hand out a 4GB USB keychain fob for that. I don't
want to email the thing--it'd be like using the domestic post to hand
you my business card.
Ideally, I'd want something cheap, about half the size of a credit
card (so it's not easy to lose) that cost about a quarter in
quantities of 1000. Should hold a megabyte or two and be readable
on any computer or mobile device. Write-once is okay, as long as
read-lots is supported.
What fills that role today?
--Chuck