Looks like the issue of removable portable storage is starting to get more mainstream media coverage. From this mornings Washington Post, a front page Business section article:
washingtonpost.com
Some points made in the article:
In the gadget consumer's ideal world, all portable electronic gizmos would use the same kind of removable memory. That sort of interoperability might happen . . . someday...
So far this contest has seen the arrival of PC Card, CompactFlash, CompactFlash II, SmartMedia, Multi Media Card and Secure Digital Memory Card technology. It's not an argument that's going to be settled anytime soon...
So who might be winning? Don't count out Sony, as unlikely as it might seem for one company to set a new standard...
But CompactFlash cards have some real advantages on the competition--they have the most capacity of the formats currently on the market, with current units holding just under 200 megabytes, while its slightly thicker CompactFlash II variation can hold up to 448 megabytes. SmartMedia, SD and Memory Stick, by contrast, offer sizes only up to 64 megabytes, and the exposed electrical contacts on SmartMedia cards can leave them vulnerable to short circuits. Some users of Memory Stick-equipped digital cameras have also complained of slow read/write times that force them to wait several seconds between taking pictures.
lately, attention has turned to using miniaturized hard drives. IBM's MicroDrive, which has been in use for about a year, is available in a CompactFlash II-compatible package. But while it offers storage at the relative bargain of $1 per megabyte, the MicroDrive has its own faults: It requires more power, gets hotter while operating and occasionally fails just like its desktop cousins.
Iomega, which unveiled its thumbnail-sized Clik drive in late 1998, has been promoting the use of these $10 disks, which store a bit less than 40 megabytes, in digital cameras and MP3 players. But that limited capacity and non-standard proportions (about half the size of a credit card) may make Clik a tough sell.
An interesting article, and one that shows just how confusing this issue can be to the average investor who hasn't read Ausdauer's excellent synopsis of the industry and SanDisk. And I wish more posters on other threads would follow his lead in periodically posting links to a good summary of the basic issues involved in the stock. This has been the easiest company to get a good handle on in a short time that I've come across. |
