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Originally Posted by Paul P
I think it's safe to say that SD, MS, and CF are the only standards we should be talking about right now. A PC Card is in a league of it's own, and for the time being, will be with us for a while. Also, I don't consider the CF format as having been concretely established just yet. CF is too bulky for a digital cameras. And we are still too early in the game to say with certainty what is proven and what is not. While CF is excellent for technologies that cannot be integrated into small SD format, CF is already being phased out for use in some digital cameras. Panasonic is one example of a manufacturer that seems to be turning to SD technology exclusively.
For me personnally and IMHO, I will not consider my recent purchase of a 128MB SD card for $43 (thx to the the people of PPCT :wink: ) a stumbling block in exploring new and more innovative products that use new formats and standards. It does make sharing devices more complicated, but clinging on to one format this early in the game is a little silly. If I have to carry SD, CF, and MS formats with me everyday, then that is the price I have to pay for wanting the best products that use these formats. If Toshiba or Fuji can show me that XD is superior to SD (claiming "The xD-Picture Card will have one of the fastest read/write speeds on the market"), then I think it's worth having another format.
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The pc card certainly meets needs out there in the industry, but its no more in a league of its own than CF is. The pc card may offer the absolute highest capacity like in the case of Toshibas HDDs, but CF has matched the pc card in almost every way by finding its way into peripherals which prove that we dont absolutely need the pc card format in order to meet peoples needs in terms of portable expandability. The pc card is starting to feel outdated.
Although I believe CF should find its way into laptops and even more devices, its certainly the strongest format out there, perhaps apart from the pc card. CF has been with us for many years now, and virtually every type of device you can find in a card format can be found in CF flavor. CF is hardly bulky, and works great in my digital camera, among many. In the case of say, a very compact camera like the Minolta Dimage X, I believe that SD is more fitting, but CF is best for higher end prosumer and professional cameras by offering a compact format with the highest capacity available. Soon this may change if SD capacities reach their currently stated potential by bypassing CF in terms of capacity. But of course, there are write speed issues to consider here as well.
In the case of Panasonic, naturally they would choose SD over anything else for use in their devices considering the fact that its parent company, Matsu****a, developed SD technology in the first place.
As for SD being a stumbling block, I never said it was. Im all for SD. However, I did say adding xD to the mix I think will be a stumbling block for the industry as was SM.
I may have lumped Sony MS into the pile along with SM and xD. I dont understand why Sony doesnt do more with it, and based on what seems to be a lack of interest in developing it on Sonys part, I think it does the industry more harm overall than good. But because its found in so many of Sonys products, and Sony is so prevelant in society, although I didnt indicate this before, for this reason alone, I do think its reasonable to carry around or deal with MS in addition to CF and SD.
If xD is truly superior to SD, and from what Ive gathered so far, it isnt, but if it is, then they better push it real hard. Nothing is more annoying than having yet another choice in the mix that doesnt benefit society, but merely brings about more incompatibility and stupid format wars into industry and individuals lives, just so that one company can make a few bucks.
But each to his own.
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