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If you are getting confused by all the flash memory formats out there -- CF, SD, MMC, SmartMedia, Memory Stick -- the folks at SanDisk say don't blame them. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company is the market leader in flash memory cards, and participated in the development of many of the formats. But, says Nelson Chan, Senior Vice President & General Manager of SanDisk's Retail Business Unit, "at the end of the day, the guys who build consumer electronics determine what they want to put in them. They determine how many card standards there will be."
According
to Chan, the flash memory market is highly fragmented, with no one format
dominating sufficiently to muscle out the others. Compact Flash -- the
familiar matchbook sized card -- is #1, but Chan estimates that its market
share is only around 30-40 percent. Memory Stick (it looks like a stick of chewing gum), for example, was developed by Sony, which wanted a proprietary standard for its entertainment-oriented products, one that also incorporated security features to satisfy the music and entertainment content arms of the corporation. Plus, Chan said, some makers decided that "the CF card was too big" for
their device needs. This drove the development of the postage-stamp sized The explosion of digital photography has been one driving force on the market. Flash memory are the "film" in digital cameras and as higher-resolution cameras become more mainstream there is an according need for larger-capacity memory cards. Digital music players and PDAs also loom large. But the multiplication of formats seems to be subsiding. Chan does not expect any format smaller than SD/MMC to gain traction because they would be too annoying to handle: "Ergonomically, your fingers are only so big." And consumer electronics manufacturers seem content with the current offerings. So for the moment, the evolution of flash cards looks to be pretty much standard stuff: more data, faster, cheaper. SanDisk, for example, has introduced a 1 MB CF card, while SD has just hit the 256 MB mark. There also is a line of "Ultra" CF cards, with higher access speeds intended, among other things, to enable photographers to shoot off sequential photos more quickly and to more quickly download large, high-resolution files. SanDisk says the transfer rate for fast copy/download is up to 2.8 MB per second or more than twice the sustained write speed of SanDisk's standard products (Memory access times are the digital equivalent of film motorized drive speeds.) Ultras tend to carry a 25 percent premium over standard CFs. The growth of high-end products, in fact, has inspired Chan to invent a term for the market: "prosumer" -- professionals and consumer power users. That would be us. ----------------------------- ... But, wait, there's more ... In addition to its flash memory cards, SanDisk has been rolling out some accessory products that are pretty cool. First, to deal with the multiplicity of formats previously discussed, SanDisk has expanded its line of card readers to include dual format ImageMate models. I tested the CF/SD version, which handles the two of the most prevalent card formats.
The price is around $30. The units are sculptured blue bars, with the nice design touch of the USB connector cord tucked into a channel on the bottom where it is out of the way (especially handy for road warriors carrying one in their laptop bag). A USB extension cord provides the necessary cord length to hook up to a desktop. Plugged into your USB port, the unit appears as two removable drives on your PC. Typical of SanDisk readers, the ImageMate installs without hassles, and provides very quick and reliable access to your memory cards. It is much superior solution than plugging in your digital camera to download pictures. ------------------ If the floppy disk isn't dead yet, the new wave of USB "key chain" memory devices are pretty much likely to finish the job. And take Zip disks with them. SanDisk's take on the concept is the new Cruzer, available in capacities from 40 MB up to 256 MB. Or actually, up to infinity. Instead of fixed memory, Cruzer uses a SD card so you can swap memory to your hearts content.
Cruzer is a little bigger (1 3/4" x 2 5/8" x 5/8") than most keychain devices but the flexibility makes up for that. A handy thumb switch in the center of the silver colored unit pops out the USB plug when pushed up. Pushed down, it ejects the SD card. Where the design of your PC permits, the Cruzer can be plugged in directly. But, as with the ImageMate, there is an extension cord where the fit isn't right. It's a handy little device that is perfect for taking documents (and even some software) on the road with you. Also for transferring items over to a friend's or colleague's computer. I particular like the potential for Cruzer as a way to store your personal files when working on a shared PC. A lot of computer users are likely to be happily Cruzing around with their data.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can reach Al Gordon at:
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This is supplemental information to the article:
"Flash" memory refers to units in which data is saved to chips that will
retain the data when powered off -- unlike, say, PC memory chips.
Toshiba developed Smart Media as a format for digital cameras, and it lined up Fuji and Olympus as supporters. (Nikon and Canon use CF).
Multimedia Card (MMC) and a Secure Digital (SD) a variant that incorporates
encoding security circuitry. As piracy concerns continue to obsess the
content providers, SD is likely to supplant MMC in the months ahead. [Tech
note: a MMC card will fit in a SD slot, but not vice versa because SD is
slightly thicker.] I also expect SD to ultimately take over the PDA market
from CF because of the size advantage. 
