My SanDisk experiences to date.
To Jason W, NickD and Rarebird in particular.
My first flash memory experience was in April of 1998 when I purchased an Epson PhotoPC 600 digital camera at Office Depot. I also purchased an ImageMate (parallel port) and a 15 MB SanDisk card ($129.99) at Ritz Camera.
What I learned was...
*** digital photography is stunning. It is also addictive, highly contagious and an incurable affliction.
*** digital photography is the latest "killer app" for the PC and a perfect web tool.
*** 1024 x 768 resolution will never suffice. Be sure to keep my film camera loaded and ready for back-up.
*** 15 MB CompactFlash cards will never suffice. Be prepared to pony up more cash for a bigger card.
*** CompactFlash & Imagemate are better than limited on-board memory & serial connectivity any day of the week.
*** CompactFlash cards are way too expensive.
My second flash memory purchase was the Pontis MP3 player in December of 1998.
What I learned was...
*** MP3 is for real. The RIAA should be very afraid.
*** MMC is an unbelievable technological accomplishment.
*** An 8 MB MMC card is not good for much.
My third flash memory purchase was the NEC MobilePro 770 palmtop.
What I learned was...
*** "instant on" is a major breakthrough.
*** the laptop manufacturers should be very afraid.
*** nothing is better than dual CompactFlash slots.
*** touch sensitive color LCD's rock.
*** Windows CE is a great product, but still needs some work.
*** Microsoft "Trips & Streets" rocks.
*** proprietary, mono headphone jacks suck.
My next purchase was the Cassiopeia E-100, a handheld PC running on Windows CE 2.0 as well.
What I learned was...
*** Palm should be very afraid.
*** 65,000 color, LCD touch screens rock.
*** every handheld should have stereo output.
*** MULTIMEDIA is coming to your palm. "The Matrix" and "Run Lola, Run" both rock.
*** you can never own a CompactFlash card that is too big.
*** cursive recognition software rocks.
*** two way digital foreign language dictionaries rock.
My next purchase was the Epson PhotoPcC 850Z digital camera (I also bought a USB ImageMate and another CF card, this time 64 MB).
What I learned was...
*** if I let friends play with this thing long enough most will offer to buy it from me at some point.
*** Epson should be paying me a commission.
*** digital cameras can function almost like SLR's.
*** 2.1 megapixel resolution is phenomenal, but there is still room for improvement.
*** I hardly ever use my film camera anymore. The last time I used it I had to dust it off.
*** USB ImageMate rocks.
*** I need a new storage system for the hundreds of "keepers" I have now assembled.
My next two purchases were the I-Jam MP3 player and the Thomson Lyra. Both were gifts.
What I learned was...
*** MP3 really rocks. The RIAA should be crapping in their pants by now.
*** the I-Jam is impressively small and functional. It doesn't look like it requires many parts at all.
*** teenagers love MP3 players.
*** encryption of MP3 files is a big, big hassle.
*** RCA makes very cute CompactFlash cards. SanDisk should be taking notes.
*** it is hard to find vintage Liberace, even with Napster.
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I am not sure what my next flash memory purchase will be. It might be an e-book with all my favorite periodicals loaded on it. It may be a digital picture frame that automatically downloads pictures from my family's on-line albums when I'm asleep. It may be a net-enabled cell phone communicator. It might be a digital bulletin board that attaches to the fridge with the white pages and yellow pages preloaded in it (in addition to a screen saver with all of our family photos). It might be a car radio with a CF slot instead of a tape deck or CD player.
I see endless applications for SanDisk's flash cards. I suspect in 2 or 3 years there will be any number of unique devices that will be designed to function with CF or MMC.
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