Sometime, it takes a
while for tech designers to get it right. That’s because they
sometimes seem to create products in a vacuum, or at least only
inside a lab and not in the real world.
For example, take so-called “thumb drives.” A
great idea: two or more GB of data on something that hooks to your
key chain. With a little help from
portableapps.com
, you can carry a whole
office full of freeware apps anywhere. Or see my article on Pendrive Linux...a complete operating system on a 1 GB thumb drive!
But then they give you a gadget with a
slide off cap
that covers the USB plug. Slide on, slide off, lose. Remove it, put
it aside and leave it in the office. Have it come off in your
pocket.
Somebody will make a
fortune by making little squishy caps that universally fit over the
ends of these things.
At least a few companies (SanDisk being one)
have USB drive casings that allow you to retract the plug,
eliminating the cap.
But it gets worse. Ever cracked open the case
of one of these beauties? There lies your many GBs of data on
a chip, and the plug that connects it to your world is a few flimsy
soldered points and little punched in tabs to hold the plug in
place.
Ever wiggle your thumb drive to get it in a PC?
Got one of those accursed front USB ports on a Dell PC that are
mounted at a downward angle (what genius thought of that one!)?
Don’t bend that plug, as you may begin the process of breaking
it.
And even worse, my 4 GB Verbatim thumb drive
began failing after four months of use. It may have been the
contacts, or something else. I’d plug it in and nothing
would happen. Or in the middle of using it,
it disconnects.
Until
I find a more robust unit, I’ve decided to spend a whopping $6.95 on a
small SD card reader. It’s basically a thumb drive housing that accepts
SD cards. The one pictured is about $12 WITH a 1 GB card and it
also accepts the newer HCSD cards. (See my article on those, too!)
No,
it doesn’t hang from my key chain anymore. But I can upgrade the size
of the SD card as prices drop, and I can even carry a few cards for
different reasons. Plus, it doubles as a card reader so i don't
have to plug in my camera to retrieve my image files. Kewl.
Let me know if you find a battle tested thumb drive.