Om Malik points us to news that USB flash drives are “expected to become [the] number one removable solid-state storage format in 2005,” according to the USB Flash Drive Alliance, at least. That doesn’t seem out of line with personal, anecdotal evidence, although the UFDA’s projections of “between 67 and 120 million” in 2005 is a pretty wide target to aim for (maybe they’ve been talking to Steve “100 Million iTunes” Jobs).
Even better, Microsoft is working to bring new software into Windows that will take advantage of some of the features flash drives have to offer. What I’d really like to see (and I know this isn’t the domain of Microsoft) is more motherboard manufacturers supporting booting off of flash drives. Although it’s increasingly rare, I am still surprised by the lingering need for floppies when reflashing BIOSes and the like.
Read – Flash Drives Everywhere [GigaOm]
Read [USBFlashDrive.org]
