With growing technology, portable storage gets faster and smaller, making things like floppy discs, CDs and Zip discs seem cumbersome and clunky. The USB Flash drive, made by a huge number of manufacturers, can hold dozens times more data than a floppy’s mere 1.44 MB and writes and reads faster than any CD. If your computer has a USB port, you merely plug it in and go.
A USB Flash Drive is generally more portable than some other storage devices, not just because of its size, but because it’s designed not just for storage like discs and CDs, but portability. Plug it from a desktop to a laptop, to a printer or other digital device. For computer-to-computer storage and transfer, the USB Flash Drive has become standard. Many even come with lanyards to keep them handy, they generally look attractive and are closed to keep dust and debris away from the USB connector. Most will hold up to 2 gigs of data, though this amount is expected to expand with new technology.
While rewritable CDs known as CD-RWs replaced floppy discs quite easily as a storage device and way to transport files from computer to computer, a USB Flash Drive is an even better choice because it’s both smaller and faster. Data can be written to it several times faster than than it take to burn data to a CD, and no drive designed for writing is required as with CDs. CD-ROM drives are standard, which play CDs, but some computers, especially older ones, need a new drive designed for burning CDs to make that type of storage an option. PCs all come standard with USB ports today, usually in front or right on the side for easy access. Older models have them in the back, which is inconvenient, but can be remedied by an inexpensive USB expansion device that plugs in to the port and can be placed in a better location, offering slots for several other USB devices. Another advantage over rewritable CDs is that they do have a limited lifespan of about 1000 erasures and rewrites where the USB flash drive can be used half a million times before it would need to be replaced.
The biggest difference in USB Flash Drives manufactured today are the shapes. They can be made as an MP3 player with headphone jacks built in, or be designed to go on a keychain for those who want their storage right at hand all the time. While they make great storage for photos or MP3s, they’re used for all data types, just like a regular hard drive.
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