| The flash drive was born in 1998 at IBM, as a | | | | |
| floppy drive replacement for the ThinkPad | | | | If you are the athletic type, a runner or |
| line of products. Almost all people know | | | | jogger, who likes to listen to the tunes |
| what a floppy drive and a floppy disk is - | | | | during your workout you want to look into a |
| but a larger percentage isn't quite sure | | | | flash drive player. Even if you have a hard |
| about the flash drive. Technically, it is a | | | | drive player it is smart to own a flash drive |
| "NAND-type flash memory data storage devices | | | | player because you'll want to take it running |
| integrated with a USB interface". It is | | | | or jogging with you because the hard drive is |
| fairly new to technology, yet many computer | | | | bulkier (hence "hard" drive) and weighs more. |
| literate people enjoy its small size, | | | | It will skip and even break, where a flash |
| lightweight, removable and the fact that it's | | | | drive is more comparable to the old school |
| rewritable. Another huge advantage is its | | | | walkman players in its durability. |
| memory capacity, ranging from 8 megabytes to | | | | |
| 64 gigabytes - limited only by the densities | | | | Next, most flash drive players come with neat |
| of its current flash memory. Unfortunately, | | | | little additions like a stopwatch or voice |
| as its capacity moves up, so does the price. | | | | recorder. At first this may sound worthless |
| Almost all types of drive use the USB mass | | | | or pointless to you, but sometimes a |
| storage standard, supported by the modern | | | | stopwatch can be handy while running and who |
| operating systems, and most flash drives are | | | | hasn't had a great idea while exercising only |
| active only when powdered by a USB computer | | | | to have it escape during the cooling off |
| connection. They require no other external | | | | process? A flash drive player will give you |
| power source or battery source. | | | | more extras while coming for a reduced price |
| | | | tag. |
| There are several advantages of the USB flash | | | | |
| drives as compared to the other portable | | | | Another nice extra when buying a flash drive |
| storage devices, such as the floppy disks, | | | | player is you almost always have an FM tuner |
| Zip disks, and the CD-R/CD-RW discs - with | | | | included, meaning if you are tired of the |
| the floppy disc as the most popular. The USB | | | | music you downloaded you can listen to your |
| flash drive is much faster, definitely holds | | | | favorite local station. Flash drive players |
| more data, and is more reliable due to their | | | | give you this, along with what was mentioned |
| lack of moving parts. They ignore the | | | | above, for a reduced price tag. Most flash |
| scratches and dust that plagues any earlier | | | | drive players go for as little as $59 and as |
| forms of portable storage, such as compact | | | | much as $149 depending on the brand and the |
| discs or floppy disks. Their design means | | | | size. |
| they often survive impacts, dropped, crushed, | | | | |
| and washed with a load of clothing. Because | | | | Six percent of the internet usage in year |
| of all of this, they are perfectly ideal for | | | | 2000 U.S. will jump to 62% in 2010, due to |
| transporting personal data or work files from | | | | music downloading and the use of data |
| one place to another. The user also wants | | | | compression, quickly transferring music over |
| to use them for carrying around personal data | | | | the internet. Also, a corresponding rise of |
| that they can access in different places. | | | | portable digital audio players, and digital |
| Being available in 8MB, 16MB, 32MB, and 64MB, | | | | cameras became very popular due to their |
| they were marketed as the true floppy killer. | | | | smaller sizes and much reduced cost. |