Flash memory has fast become one of the most popular mediums of data storage throughout the world.
Flash memory utilizes the popular universal system bus as its communication interface, and is used widely by ordinary people and businesses alike as a quick program and erase portable storage facility. It is a common storage medium for personal media devices such as MP3 players and personal digital assistants. To put the usage into context for the less expert hardware users, the format is used in much the way floppy or stiffy disks were used throughout the last storage era – only far with far bigger capacity for storage.
The electrically programmable and erasable memory does not need to be powered constantly by an energy source such as a battery, this being a leap ahead from the old technology. The read time is almost as fast as the internal random access memory of a personal computer. A huge advantage is the memory is much more resistant to shock and vibration, which is a far cry more convenient than the jumping and skipping that most compact disk players are prone to. The silent running of flash memory also challenges hard disk technology, which have long presented a struggle in creating absolutely silent running hard drives. On the down side, the cost is greater on the flash memory side since a megabyte of flash memory is more expensive than the same in hard disk space. This is not a permanent fact, however, since the research into flash memory capacity, speed and cost efficiency continues to hammer increasingly, to accommodate the high commercial demand. It is not yet foreseen whether flash memory will totally replace hard disk technology, but then nothing is impossible!