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SanDisk pushes frontiers of flash storage

On Thursday, SanDisk introduced 64-GB solid state drives (SSDs) that the company plans to have ready for shipment to manufacturers and to retail outlets by the end of this year.

Time was not long ago when I used to throw up my hands in despair every time the floppy disk acted weird. “Disk in drive A: not accessible” the computer would say, and that too after a single use! That’s when flash drives or pen drives came as a boon.

Durable and reliable, they redefined the very concept of storage media that I thanked science for such ‘small’ favors. Flash drives proved that they are no ‘flash in the pan’ idea and soon became ubiquitous, from digital players to digicams.

But there was a limitation – or so we thought – as capacity was limited. Like everything else before, technology shattered such myths when manufacturers started pushing the storage envelope in flash technology. Now, for instance, SanDisk has introduced a 64-GB solid state drive (SSD) that the company plans to have ready for shipment by the end of this year. When they formally launch, the SanDisk SSDs -- which already are available in 32-GB sizes -- will be able to serve as drop-in replacements for hard drives in most mainstream notebooks and PCs. Flash drivers have non-moving parts, which makes them longer-lasting and lightweight. Which also translates to lighter laptops and lower power bills!

At the other end of the spectrum, think of these SSDs mounted in your MP3 players and the potential seems to be immense and exciting. Imagine the number of songs and pictures you can store and the hours of videos you can play!

As of now, the lowest price even for a 32-GB flash drive is about $350. However, Joseph Unsworth, analyst for flash memory at research firm Gartner, says the market will see greater adoption of SSDs when the prices go down, but not without adding: "We still have a long way to go to drive down the price of solid state drives."

All we can do till then is, maybe wait.

[ Via newsfactor ]