Samsung Flash Drive Laptops

Remember what happened to the Betamax when VHS appeared on the scene? And do you recall what happened to the VHS when VCDs came marching in? We know you still recall the fate of VCDs when the DVDs arrived.  We don’t want to alarm anybody but your laptop’s hard drive may be going the way of the Betamax, the VHS, and the VCD (and the DVD, for that matter).

First sign of its  impending  phase out  could be Samsung’s Flash Drive Laptops. Instead of HDDs, Samsung fitted them high-capacity version of its solid-state disk (SSD). The SSD drive, the size of a 1.8in HDD, has 32Gb of flash memory. This is twice the capacity of Samsung’s prototype device released last year.

The SSD technology trounces HDDs on three fronts. Data access is almost 50% faster. It’s more durable than the spinning disks because it has no delicate mechanical parts running inside. And its quiet. We can’t tell you how many near fatal heart-attacks we had when our HDD made those sounds (the computer counterpart of a cat choking on a fur ball).

Should HDD makers start quaking in their shoes? Well, not just yet.  SDD technology is still way too expensive to go mainstream – around $30 per gigabyte (that’s $960 for 32Gb). “At this moment it would be very expensive,” said Samsung, “but technology is moving very fast so in the near future it could be cheaper.” But of course they will be cheaper, and probably sooner than we think.  Memo to HDD manufacturers:  Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Remember what happened to the Betamax when VHS appeared on the scene? And do you recall what happened to the VHS when VCDs came marching in? We know you still recall the fate of VCDs when the DVDs arrived.  We don’t want to alarm anybody but your laptop’s hard drive may be going the way of the Betamax, the VHS, and the VCD (and the DVD, for that matter).

First sign of its  impending  phase out  could be Samsung’s Flash Drive Laptops. Instead of HDDs, Samsung fitted them high-capacity version of its solid-state disk (SSD). The SSD drive, the size of a 1.8in HDD, has 32Gb of flash memory. This is twice the capacity of Samsung’s prototype device released last year.

The SSD technology trounces HDDs on three fronts. Data access is almost 50% faster. It’s more durable than the spinning disks because it has no delicate mechanical parts running inside. And its quiet. We can’t tell you how many near fatal heart-attacks we had when our HDD made those sounds (the computer counterpart of a cat choking on a fur ball).

Should HDD makers start quaking in their shoes? Well, not just yet.  SDD technology is still way too expensive to go mainstream – around $30 per gigabyte (that’s $960 for 32Gb). “At this moment it would be very expensive,” said Samsung, “but technology is moving very fast so in the near future it could be cheaper.” But of course they will be cheaper, and probably sooner than we think.  Memo to HDD manufacturers:  Be afraid. Be very afraid.