Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Storage Devices – Flash Drives





         The progression of storage capacity for computers demonstrates a dramatic growth in technical terms.  Computer storage began with 5 ½ in floppy drives and progressed rapidly into 3 ½ in floppy drives that improved storage capacity and durability.  From that chain, a cluster of innovations emerged to continue the quest for an innovation that could deliver high volumes of storage in stout containers.  This cluster includes Zip drives, external hard drives, CD drives, and DVD drives. The flash drive emerged as a dominant innovation from this cluster.  Flash drives continue to increase in capacity, decrease in size, and drop in price.  The result is an extremely small device that can survive the washing machine while containing large amounts of data.  Recent enhancements allow users to use a flash drive with encryption capabilities, to book a computer, as a host for software, and to interface with public machines. 
         The future of storage devices is interesting to consider.  The advent of the Icloud storage concept introduces a virtual replacement for the flash drive.  Another option is the Memristor currently patented by Hewlett Packard Laboratories (Memristor, 2012).  This device allows the computer to restart without rebooting.  The development of these storage options will support computing devices that do not require dedicated storage.  The software and boot requirements could exist outside of the computing device.  This change extends battery life by minimizing power consumption. 


References:

Johnson, C. (2011) Evolution of the flash drive. Retrieved September 26, 2012, from http://blog.premiumusb.com/2011/02/evolution-of-usb-flash-drives/
Memristor (2012). Retrieved September 26, 2012, from http://www.memristor.org/

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Jeriann,
    I think you comprehensively outlined the events leading up, and the development of the flash drive. This is an innovation that has had a profound effect on the lives of those of us who need to have access to our data at any given time.
    It was interesting to read about Memristor. A device which could restart my computer without rebooting would be a welcome addition to my home.
    Here is my tetrad for Memristor:





    Enhances Obsoletes

    Data storage Traditional computer
    hard dive




    Retrieves Reverses
    Need for safe data storage non destructible memory
    and retrieval

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  3. Hi Jennifer,

    Thanks for the comment. I think the Memristor is interesting also. I wonder if it will continue to emerge and gain mass popularity. With the developments of Cloud storage, some of the attributes of the two products are competing. It will be interesting to see if they each make it through the innovation process.

    Jeri

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  4. Jeri,

    Although straightforward and somewhat obvious I think that your comment about how flash-drives allow one "to interface with public machines" is a point that is extremely profound. What would a contemporary classroom look like if a professor (or student) could not quickly, efficiently and privately access files for classroom use without needing to open up email inboxes with files attached? For example, whenever I am teaching I am reluctant to open up emails since there might be sensitive student information (even to the extent of being protected by F.E.R.P.A.). But, with a self-contained thumb-drive I can quickly pull up power-points, class schedules, etc. with no risk of accidentally broadcasting my entire inbox to the class via an overhead projector (an accident that had happened to me prior to using flash-drives).

    --All the best,
    Rob

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  5. The future of storage devices is interesting. I wonder how the cloud storage would serve as computer memory, though memristor has the capability, but it is still a physical device, it will be amazing to see this happen.

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