i was reading about keychain devices that act as mass storage devices in the Wall St. Journal today...M-systems calls theirs "DiskOnKey"...they're as long as a key, as wide as a highlighter...USB port on one end...compatible with both PC's and Mac's for interchangeability...here are some excerpts:

"To use a keychain memory module, u just plug it directly into a USB port on a PC or Mac. A little green light built into the device flashes when the module is in use. In seconds, the computer recognizes the keychain memory device and treats it as a disk drive, with a name or letter assigned to it. You can then save files to it. When u're done, just unplug it and carry it to the second computer. Plug it in again and copy the files to the receiving computer's hard disk. This even works if one of the machines is a PC and the other is a Mac, as long as both machines can handle the types of files being moved.

Because there are no moving parts (flash memory only), reading and writing to the modules is fast. In fact, the modules work so quickly and smoothly that u can even play MP3's or video's directly from them, without first suffering any skips or hesitation. You could work on a word-processing file stored in the module. You could even keep a novel on it.

Some of the modules even come in optional secure versions, in which part or all of the contents can b password protected.

3 manufacturers have entered the keychain memory market with different designs. M-Systems makes the DiskOnKey, the leader. JMTek makes the USBDrive. And Trek2000 makes the ThumbDrive. These companies mainly aim to act as suppliers to firms with bigger brand names.

IBM resells the DiskOnKey and ThumbDrive under the brand Memory Key. Sony resells the DiskOnKey as the Micro Vault. Dell resells the DiskOnKey as well. Sonnet Technologies resells the ThumbDrive as the Piccolo. McAfee resells the USBDrive."

kinda kewl ehh???

looks like Quantum's got it work cut out for them

 

it's unreal how small things are getting...I have a 5gig pc card HD for my ipaq....I thought that was small and easy!

 

Isn't this just flash memory like that used in a digi cam or mp3 player. Not really a 'hard drive' per se I don't think.

 

That is correct. Now you can ditch the floppies and backup keys files and take them home with you on your key ring. They are about the size of a Mobil easypass.

 

well the computer "thinks" it's a drive b/c it allocates a name/letter for a drive in Windows Explorer for example...so i just think of it as a harddrive that's the size of a key cuz it's easy to think of it that way

 

That's NOT the smallest HD as that's not a hard-drive. It's a memory drive. My brother worked for a VC firm that was approached by a firm that had the smallest working hard-drive. (They didn't fund it since they believed the risk of IBM or other large companies creating it as well, would give the little company no chance to survive. ) This thing was the size of a quarter, but square, weighed about as much as a quarter and was as thin as a quarter. And it stored 250 meg of info. THey also had a similar size 500meg sample. NOW THAT is a small hard drive...

 

Yep. Those have been around for quite a while now albeit in smaller 16mb or 32mb forms. I'll wait for the prices to drop on the 128mb or 256mb ones until I buy.