MEMORY DEVICES: Slide-N-Use!

And the day will soon come when huge memories will fit into sizes
suitable for implanting memory devices anywhere you want. Well anywhere,
including your brain!

Today´s electronic memory comes in a variety of forms to serve a variety of
purposes. Flash memory is one of them. Flash memory is used for easy and fast
information storage in devices such as digital cameras and home video game
consoles. It is a solid-state storage device with no moving parts. A few more
examples of flash memory include–BIOS chips, Memory Stick, PCMCIA Type I and
Type II memory cards used as solid-state disks in laptops among others.

MANY FACES OF MEMORY

The solid-state floppy-disk card (SSFDC), better known as SmartMedia, was
originally developed by Toshiba. SmartMedia is quite small, approximately 45 mm
long, 37 mm wide and less than 1 mm thick. It is amazing to see how much memory
is packed into such a small size!

CompactFlash cards were developed by Sandisk in 1994, and
they are thicker than the SmartMedia cards. They support dual voltage and
operate at either 3.3 volts or 5 volts.

Both of these types of removable storage, as well as PCMCIA
Type I and Type II memory cards adhere to standards developed by the Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA). Because of these
standards, it is easy to use CompactFlash and SmartMedia products in a variety
of devices.

Sony’s Memory Stick is available in a wide range of
products offered by Sony, and is now licensed by other manufacturers for use in
their own products as well.

Although there are standards like PCMCIA, there are many
flash-memory products that are completely proprietary in nature, like the cards
found in video game systems.

CompactFlash is one of the world’s most popular removable
mass storage device. The card was designed based on the popular PCMCIA standard
and can easily be slipped into these slots with the use of a low-cost adapter.
CompactFlash technology has resulted in the introduction of a new class of
advanced, small, lightweight, low-power products that significantly enhance the
lifestyle of millions of people. These products include digital cameras, digital
music players, PDAs, Palm PCs, digital voice recorders and photo printers.

These cards provide high transfer rates for fast
copy/download and retain the data even in absence of external power. They can
resist a 10-foot drop to the floor and are not affected by weather conditions.

QUITE LIKE YOUR FLOPPIES

The CompactFlash cards can be used like floppy disks through a card reader.
The card readers are generally USB-compatible, small external device that the
computer recognizes as any other drive. Since CompactFlash cards are of a
universal size, it does not matter if the card’s capacity is 16, 32, 64 or
even more megabytes.

The digital photographs stored on a CompactFlash card in a
digital camera need to be downloaded onto a computer for viewing, editing,
saving or e-mailing. Doing this directly from the camera connected to the USB
port on the computer takes a long time for high-resolution photographs. If you
leave the Card Reader plugged into the PC, all you need to do is just eject the
card from the camera and insert it into the Card Reader and it´s as good as
another drive on your computer. The photos are available for viewing within
seconds.

The card reader also saves you from using the batteries in
the camera to transfer the pictures. The camera batteries need to be charged
more frequently if you download photos directly from the camera.

A STICK THAT YOU’D LOVE

Another device with a small size and high memory capacity is the Sony Memory
Stick. It was Sony that pioneered the 3.5 inch floppy disk and claims that the
Memory Stick is the next generation in digital storage. There are, of course,
rival standards for digital memory cards and it is still to be seen which
standard finally becomes ´The´ industry standard.

Memory Stick media allows you to share data between
compatible PCs, cameras, camcorders, portable audio players, printers, voice
recorders, videoconferencing systems, projectors and more. With Memory Stick
media, you can store your digital pictures, music, graphics, presentations,
audio files, spreadsheets or any digital file. It’s as simple to use as a
floppy disk, but it’s ten times smaller, has 88 times greater storage at 128
MB capacity and is a solid state media, with no moving parts and high
reliability.

One can download music and save it to a Memory Stick media to
be played back in a Memory Stick compatible player. One 128 MB Memory Stick
media can hold up to 1,960 pictures at VGA resolution or up to four hours of
music or up to eight hours and forty minutes of voice recordings.

One can even show presentation without a PC using a Memory
Stick enabled projector. Transcription devices with Memory Sticks will also
become available soon. Your voice files can be recorded onto Memory Stick media,
and voice-to-print recognition software can be used to print out the text.

Memory Stick media is a licensed technology with many
companies worldwide supporting its development. These companies range from
automotive, to consumer electronics, digital imaging, information technology,
wireless services and software firms.

Memory Stick media is designed to be a personal network
platform connecting a variety of products, for a range of applications.

Memory Stick media expansion modules are like new peripherals
that will plug into the Memory Stick slot of compatible handhelds. These modules
promise to add new capabilities, including digital photography, Bluetooth
wireless networking and GPS navigation.

Memory Stick media is claimed to become the common thread of
the digital lifestyle. A thread connecting an enormous and growing network of
digital products like PCs, handheld PCs, telephones, camcorders, digital
cameras, digital music players, car GPS systems, home stereos, imaging kiosks
and many more. The future of memory devices is digital, and they are getting
only smaller and better with advancements in the technology.

And considering the rate at which technologies have evolved
over last 10 years, that day is not far when these memory devices can be plugged
into the human body as well. On a futuristic note, perhaps your great grand son
won´t have to run around for his medical college admission! He will just have
to buy a bio-electronic memory module for the specialization he is interested in
and slide the module into his brain´s memory slot!

ASHOK DONGRE