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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27852)	4/8/2005 2:54:39 PM
From: Cary Salsberg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

Hi Sam, When I was reading Steve's column to help purchase a camera for my daughter (picked Sony DSC-W1), I noticed that start up time and lag time between pictures was an issue. I also noticed that there were large differences between cameras and that larger memory cards slowed the process. I didn't notice if any of the really good times were partly attributable to the flash memory card format, but that is something to consider. Cary

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27852)	4/9/2005 1:06:09 PM
From: Ausdauer	Respond to of 60323

Sam, CompactFlash was the ideal solution for most electronics. like prior standards: the CD ROM, the floppy disk, the videocassette tape, the 8 track and the LP. Some competitive form factors were either developed simultaneously (Smart Media) or were developed to help promote a brand name (Memory Stick). Others were created to improve on size needed for applications (SD and its variants, xD). Newer applications are even inter- face dependent (USB drives). The end result is a confusing menagerie of flash forms. CompactFlash was fantastic because of its practical size and substance, the fact that it could be used in a PC card slot without software drives, and afforded the greatest capacity. Had the CompactFlash card consortium pushed for it, CompactFlash, or more appropriately, the PCMCIA slot would have migrated off the laptop computer to replace the floppy card drive. As it turned out the lack of a direct interface created a whole new market for peripherals called card readers. At one point I had a CF card I could use in my digital camera, my Pocket PC, my MP3 player and my PC that also doubled as a portable USB equivalent with the aid of a PCMCIA adapter. This is no longer possible. Good luck with you purchases. SanDisk and the other flash manufacturers thank you. Aus

To: Sam Citron who wrote (27852)	4/9/2005 5:39:59 PM
From: clix	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Although the proliferation of flash card formats benefits Sandisk (and not Lexar, for example), I don't believe it is correct to assume that Sandisk is responsible for it. Many of the electronics giants (Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic) were reluctant to adopt compactflash and started going their own ways (memorystick, smartmedia). Although we all love compactflash (I also have tried to buy only CF gadgets so far, with one exception) it's obvious that its bulky form factor is a problem for designers trying to shrink the size of the smaller gadgets. And when secure content became an issue for standard adoption, it was obvious that something new was needed. Sandisk entered the Japanese Giant War by making sure it was in with Toshiba and Panasonic (SD), but ended up with a slice of the memorystick pie as well. Kudos to Harari for that. But you can't blame Sandisk for all the form factors out there -- this was a result of both evolving requirements (size, encryption) and big-company warfare (Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba). Also, as the cost of flashcards is going down the negative impact of multiple formats on consumers is also being reduced. How often do we use the same CF card on more than one device these days?