04-20-2003, 12:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Yet Another Flash Format -- CUD
Will this ever end?
"Taiwan-based Atech Totalsolution on Tuesday introduced a memory card called Compact USB Disk (CUD), featuring a built-in USB interface and compatibility with CompactFlash (CF) cards, the company announced in a seminar on small-sized memory cards. Only one-third the size of a CF card, the CUD card can replace a CF card in portable devices such as digital still cameras (DSC) by using a specially-designed cartridge. In addition, the CUD card can be connected directly to other digital devices such as PCs, PDAs and handsets via a USB cable or CUD adapter, while other memory cards need a card reader. According to Atech, the production cost for a CUD card is about US$25, compared to US$38 for a CF card."
If you check Atech's site, they claim that it's "smaller than SD, and faster than CF". They also feature the fact that it fits inline with the CF card. Argh. :evil: Yet another format, not too long after xD was unleashed. A CF adapter isn't enough -- it's not going to help me with my SD-enabled Pocket PC any more useful, will it? And SD is a perfectly workable standard, for which memory should get faster anyway. And just how much smaller a form factor do we want than SD cards? Quite honestly, SD and CF and MS are more than enough for me. I don't want to ever have a "20-in-1 reader". About the only good thing going for this format, according to the Digitech article, is its theoretical speed and its "open" licensing policy, but I don't see it hitting any level of market popularity at this point.
Enough of my rant -- what do you think? (Even if you don't care for the rant, check out the article - it has a very interesting comparison table of all the prevalent memory standards.)
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04-20-2003, 12:12 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,479
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I dunno but this animation looks WRONG 
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04-20-2003, 12:18 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,608
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I'm sure you could probably find similar rants about SD/MMC when it first appeared to and look where it is now :wink:
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04-20-2003, 12:25 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by byteme
I'm sure you could probably find similar rants about SD/MMC when it first appeared to and look where it is now :wink:
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Well, my thinking is that you want about one standard per general form factor size. SD/MMC, Memory Stick, MS Duo, and xD all fit in this category already, and to me that's too much. Maybe it's just me? 
--janak
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04-20-2003, 12:47 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 125
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
Quote:
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Originally Posted by byteme
I'm sure you could probably find similar rants about SD/MMC when it first appeared to and look where it is now :wink:
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Well, my thinking is that you want about one standard per general form factor size. SD/MMC, Memory Stick, MS Duo, and xD all fit in this category already, and to me that's too much. Maybe it's just me? |
Definitely not just you.
Try buying a digital camera these days. For me, it ended up being, "OK, which ones use SD or CF so I can use my iPAQ's memory card collection in the camera, too". Of course, that eliminates a pile if very nice cameras. It's very frustrating to shop with memory card format being my first consideration. If there were only CF and SD on the market, I wouldn't have to worry about it.
If people don't like SD due to licensing, I wish they would pick ONE open standard rather than everyone inventing their own proprietary formats.
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04-20-2003, 01:20 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 56
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This CUD standard sounds VERY good compared to SD and CF. Faster than CF but smaller than SD. But, because I live on a farm, the name doesn't sound too appealing :?
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04-20-2003, 01:21 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Quote:
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USB 2.0/ CF Card/ Portaritory Serial & Parallel Mode
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Portaritory? I hope that isn't supposed to mean proprietary.
__________________
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04-20-2003, 01:31 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 225
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I agree, there is already a dizzying array of flash memory formats available today. I also made my purchases with memory cards as my first consideration. I now have 3 devices that use CF. The other reason I've stayed away from SD is because it's still too expensive.
All the formats are proprietary except for CF and CUD. So aren't you saying that if people don't like SD due to licensing, you wish they will adopt CUD?
I think SD is already small enough and we don't really need anything smaller (i.e., XD, mini-SD, MS Duo). However I think I may be tempted to buy CUD instead of SD if they are cheaper since I can just buy an adaptor and plug it into my existing hardware. If CUD cards will cost even less than CF (as is implied in the article) and manufacturers don't have to pay licensing fees then perhaps CUD will gain more traction than SD? Ok, that's probably wishful thinking, since device manufacturers like HP must embrace this standard too. I just don't see Toshiba ditching its SD format or Sony ditching its MS format. 
Thus I think the biggest draw towards CUD may be its cost and its licensing policy but I think it will probably fail because its survival is largely dependant on having a majority of manufacturers embracing it and incorporation it into their devices, which is unlikely to happen.
My thoughts on other smaller (physical size) formats:
I just don't see XD taking off because I don't see it being used outside of digital cameras (perhaps I'm wrong?). I think CUD may kill mini-SD because of licensing issues but I'm probably wrong. However MS-Duo will definately survive simply because it's backed by Sony. :?
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04-20-2003, 02:00 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 206
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Anybody notices this thing has 68 pins?? 8O
but from all standard I have to admit this one looks the most appealing. compatible with USB and CF, has plenty of pins , open, and pretty darned small.
I am ready to declare the end of SD.
It only need cheap memory, WiFi, and GPS to win against SD already.
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04-20-2003, 03:10 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,608
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
Quote:
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Originally Posted by byteme
I'm sure you could probably find similar rants about SD/MMC when it first appeared to and look where it is now :wink:
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Well, my thinking is that you want about one standard per general form factor size. SD/MMC, Memory Stick, MS Duo, and xD all fit in this category already, and to me that's too much. Maybe it's just me?
--janak |
I didn't neccesarily disagree with you. I personally think the SD form factor is small enough. Good grief if they get much smaller I will be in constant fear of losing them :mrgreen: Like was mentioned earlier, I base my buying decisions on what storage medium is used. Doesn't any vendor remember what backwards compatibility was about?
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Linear Mode
