Iria

SAN FRANCISCO (Billboard) - When Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPod Nano on September 7, he predicted it would be the best-selling iPod model ever.

That is a strong statement, considering the Nano is only Apple's second device to incorporate flash memory instead of a hard drive. It is an even stronger endorsement of flash-based technology from a company that until this year declined to use it in a single product.

Jobs' newfound enthusiasm for the memory format indicates the extent to which the digital music industry has pinned its hopes for mass-market appeal on flash-based players. Though hard-drive and micro-hard-drive devices have dominated the MP3 player market, flash-memory performance, price and popularity are all improving at such a clip that some analysts believe it will overtake the hard drive in the very near future.

Flash-based devices store content on a chip, which unlike a hard drive contains no movable parts. This means flash players use less battery power -- 30 times less --than hard-drive players, as well as being much smaller and extremely durable.

The trade-off is that flash memory chips have a limited storage capacity and a higher price than their hard-drive counterparts, which boast 10 times the capacity at half the cost.
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Read More / Source: Reuters

The_Neon_Cowboy

I'd like to see it but it doesnt tack up these claims are pure marketing fluff at this tme

(will) = Maybe someday
(very near future) = a few years
(performance, price are all improving)=much slower then even old HD's, far more expensive

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dj_stick

mike, iirc flash memory has a much faster read/write than HDDs

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No_Style

That is true. Flash is faster than traditional mechanical HDD. With development and lowering of costs, it won't be long until we see some larger flash based drives for PCs. One can hope..! FLASH FTW!

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The_Neon_Cowboy

I going bt the flash memory we see today useing as in used flash
drives becouse all the numbe I'v ever seen are slower then dirt...

these are "newer" "better performing" drives too
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/oczrally/hdtach.htm

unless you calling like 26MB/s read and like 19MB/s right
fast as in how very old 20GB 5400 RPM is "fast" maybe.
Also currently they cost a heck of alot more.

If a hard drive fails its not impossable to recover the data
or have it recoverd. Also flash driver would make a a very
easy implmentcation of force hardware (updatable) copy
protection..

Is there some other number I should be looking at? how
can we expect flash memory be flater then current HDs
when the number for the advreage device is really poor.
Sets between a old outdated hard drive and a floppy/zip/ls120 in
the computer world in my view.

I know it should be flaster , then why is the performance
of the flash used in flash drives so very poor stack up next to
todays hard drives...Price and performance wise

Yes faster exists but you will likly see it in devices and mobile
drives 1st. so anything more then that is unrealistic kinda like
they specilation the terrabtye blue ray type disks that where
going to take over (like 5+ years ago). (thats yet to have arrived)

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