One of the best
candidates to replace floppy disks. IBM make microdrives in sizes up to 1GB. They are compatable with
CompactFlash memory cards, and have faster
access rates. The drives are competitively priced, (around $500 for 1GB) and very
robust.
I don't work for the
Big Blue, but I think a lot of people who rave about the virtues of the
Sony Memory Stick need a bit of guidance.
I continue to be surprised how rare these drives are - it reflects poorly on
IBMs marketing department.
IOMega (Makers of
zip disks and
jazz disks) signed an agreement to market the IBM drives in 2001, but they still seem to be extremely rare. Microdrives are also being used to build a wearable computer into space suits.
Given the popularity of compact flash, and the availability of
USB/compact flash adaptors, you can use a microdrive on almost any device. Its size and capacity make it excellent for the
portable devices that are currently all the rage. I have little doubt we'll be seeing
more of these babies
Check out storage.ibm.com or google for more info.