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View Full Version : 20 GB Microdrive In Your Pocket


Jon Westfall
04-05-2005, 05:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?ContentId=4319' target='_blank'>http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.a...?ContentId=4319</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is announcing new advancements to a 100-year-old magnetic recording technology that will set the stage for ultra-high capacities such as a 20GB (gigabyte) Microdrive or a one terabyte 3.5-inch hard drive. To achieve this, Hitachi has demonstrated the industry's highest data density at 230 gigabits per square inch (Gb/in2) on perpendicular recording."</i><br /><br />This actually sounds temptingly cool; the idea that in the future our hard drives will be small enough to back up 4 copies of all my important data onto a handheld boggles the mind today, but may be very real tomorrow. This brings up a question: What technology have you seen take off in the past 10 years that you never thought would become so widespread? Do you see these super small high-capacity drives as being the miracle product of the next 10 years?

kcrain
04-05-2005, 05:46 PM
Definitely...microdrives with those kinds of capacities (I've read in other places getting up to 60 GB) will allow for things like cell phones acting as true mp3 players. You could store your entire library on your phone, as opposed to copying a new album there every day. You could take last night's TV show with you and watch it on your lunch break, or on your commute. I remember just recently thinking 1GB compact flash was pretty amazing to have. Now with 10 times the capacity, the opportunities are exploding!

alabij
04-05-2005, 06:06 PM
I think Pocket PC Phone Edition has come a long way(in the US). I remember when the first PPCPE was launched in the US and carried by only T-Mobile. I bought my XDA from T-Mobie direct for under $200 bucks. I mean they were basically giving them away. This was about 3 months after their release.
I guess sales were so poor, I mean there were more than $300 worth of rebates.
Everyone was into Palm. Kyocera had the hottest Smartphone then; QCP 6035, boy I loved that phone. I myself was skeptical about switching.
Today! I just can't see life without my PPCPE. And like Bill Gates says; we haven't even scratched the surface of the power of computers. :lol:

surur
04-05-2005, 06:06 PM
As a counter argument, unless the media producers become more free with the distribution of their products there is very little benefit to having large amount of storage on a mobile device. The majority of music collections are only a few gigabytes, so when we are talking about multi-gigabyte storage we are really talking about movies and TV programs, and the studios are still very tight with releasing these straight to the consumer in a timely and digital way.

It irritates me that I can only get dead like me in the UK onto my pocketpc via illegal means, even if it has already been recorded onto my Sky + digital video recorder, just because restrictions which arnt effective against real pirates in any case.

Surur

ricksfiona
04-05-2005, 07:43 PM
In the last 10 years? The Internet and WiFi.

Internet: I didn't think it would be so accepted by the general public and be so easy to publish and access.

WiFi: Again, easy to implement is the main reason this has been so popular and revolutionary. Access anywhere. Awesome.

We're almost there with Video On Demand, another 2 - 3 years and it will be just mind blowing.

As soon as our Internet pipes get larger, I want to have excellent quality video conferencing.

ricksfiona
04-05-2005, 07:45 PM
20GB in our handhelds. THAT would rock! I just hope it doesn't suck the batteries dry. I can take whatever movies, MP3 and work data wherever I want. Amazing stuff. 1TB in our computers for the price of a current 300GB - 400GB drive? Dang!

powder2000
04-05-2005, 08:49 PM
Of course, if you employ one of the new fast recharge batteries in a pocket pc with this harddrive, battery drain doesn't sound like such a bad deal.

aerin44
04-05-2005, 09:49 PM
Ultra-large microdives will be very nice, but I really hope the miracle product of the next ten years is a dramatic improvement in battery performance. I am still pretty skeptical about fuel cells ever being useful or cost effective for laptops or PDAs.

jpaq
04-05-2005, 10:12 PM
If history tells us anything, in computers, it's that as drive capacities increase, well, the software and data we put on them does as well.

Just watch MS Office turn into a 50GB app.

:devilboy:

stingraze
04-05-2005, 11:34 PM
Increased capacity = more stuff to put = GREAT! 8) just need to worry about how much power it drains. With pdas it's crucial.

stevelam
04-06-2005, 08:56 AM
20GB!!!!! one of my pc's only has a 30gb hard drive :oops:

david291
04-06-2005, 02:19 PM
You can buy 8GB CF cards right now. I have 2GB for my camera, and that sometimes feels constrained.

Mexico
04-06-2005, 06:46 PM
"100-year-old magnetic recording technology"?!?!

8O

foebea
04-06-2005, 10:35 PM
"100-year-old magnetic recording technology"?!?!

8O

They are of course refering to the alien technology they reverse engineered in order to make this great size barrier breakthrough. The aliens had stopped using this technology 100 years ago. Naturally.

Actually, here is a review from a book i just found.. sheds some light.

The first magnetic recording device was demonstrated and patented by the Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. Poulsen made a magnetic recording of his voice on a length of piano wire. MAGNETIC RECORDING traces the development of the watershed products and the technical breakthroughs in magnetic recording that took place during the century from Paulsen's experiment to today's ubiquitous audio, video, and data recording technologies including tape recorders, video cassette recorders, and computer hard drives.
An international author team brings a unique perspective, drawn from professional experience, to the history of magnetic recording applications. Their key insights shed light on how magnetic recording triumphed over all competing technologies and revolutionized the music, radio, television and computer industries. They also show how these developments offer opportunities for applications in the future.

MAGNETIC RECORDING features 116 illustrations, including 92 photographs of historic magnetic recording machines and their inventors."

Sponsored by:
IEEE Magnetics Society

Mexico
04-07-2005, 12:47 AM
Thanks, Foebea! :D