Jonathon Watkins
02-08-2005, 08:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.infoworld.com//article/05/01/28/05OPstorinside_1.html' target='_blank'>http://www.infoworld.com//article/0...orinside_1.html</a><br /><br /></div>Mario Apicella from Infoworld has written an article about the recent upsurge of activity surrounding Microdrives. He mentions the recent <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36303&">Hitachi announcement about "Mikey"</a>, which use 40% less power, is 20% physically smaller and goes up to 8Gb in size, as well as the new <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36816&">6Gb Western Digital</a> microdrive. The predicated grow rates for the sale of these tiny hard disks are huge, which means that manufacturers are eager to get into the market:<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/ibm-drive-chick-egg.jpg" /> <br /><br /><i>". . . [I]t's easy to speculate that the increased competition will lower prices, which will translate into a more affordable -- and possibly even faster-growing -- market for gizmos based on the drives. Another possible effect is to trigger lower prices and higher capacities for flash drives, microdrives' technology rival. This is good news if moving a spinning drive has you worried about the safety of your data. Looking further ahead, I like to imagine that the availability of large and inexpensive personal drives will inspire the building of a quintessential super-gizmo, perhaps a combination of cell phone, PDA, camcorder, laptop, MP3 player, and more where I can store and retrieve a lifetime of music, images, and personal information, including copies of my medical records (why not?). . . . If microdrives can help us live better and longer, I'm all for them. What about you?"</i>