What Is A USB Flash Drive_2

Despite there being hundreds of millions of USB flash drives in use today thee are still a surprising number of people who are not quite sure what they are. Here's a simple guide.
Not everyone is familiar with exactly what a USB Flash Drive
is, what it抯 used for and why they are becoming increasing popular. So here抯
a basic guide to what a USB Flash Drive is:
USB Flash drives (also known as USB memory sticks, USB pen
drives or USB thumb drives) were first commercially available in the year 2000.
IBM launched them under the brand name 揇iskOnKey?and they were introduced as
a replacement for the floppy disc. By today抯 standard the first USB flash
drives had a tiny 8MB of storage capacity but even this was 4 times the amount
of data that could be stored on a floppy disk.
The portability of USB flash drives and the ability to carry
your data around on a key ring or lanyard and simply plug it into a PC via a
USB port meant they became very popular very quickly. Essentially a USB flash
drive is a just a way of storing data and storing it on something that is
lightweight, easy to carry, easy to use and works on all PC and Mac platforms.
Over time larger storage capacities became available and the
data transfer speeds increased to support the movement of larger amounts of
information. Today typical USB flash drives are 2GB to 4GB but drives up to a
whopping 64GB are now making their way into the market. A 64GB flash drive
holds 8,000 times more data than the 8MB version first introduced in 2000!!

Inside every USB flash drive is a small printed circuit
board (controller chip) that is connected to a flash memory module (the piece
on which the data is stored). These two elements are then encased in an outer
shell that is typically made of plastic, metal or more recently wood/bamboo.
The USB connector that protrudes out of the end of a flash
drive is simply inserted into any PC or Mac and then the storage space on the
USB flash drive is accessible and data can to saved to/from the drive. USB
flash drives don抰 need batteries because they draw all the power they need to
work from the USB port they are plugged into.
Today USB flash drives are very popular with companies
because they can print their logo or brand onto the outside casing of the flash
drive and give them away at trade shows, conference, exhibitions and so on.
With the large amount of storage space now available on entry level versions of
the flash drive companies are also pre-loading their sales brochures and other
marketing material onto the memory of the flash drive ?this not only saves
them printing and transportation costs but it抯 a really effective way of
distributing large amounts of data and information about their company.
People that are given branded flash drives (flash drives
printed with a company logo on) are typically delighted to receive them because
they have a high perceived value and because they can use they to save and
transport their own data around.

Article Tags:
Flash Drive, Flash Drives