Low End Mac Reader Specials
TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how
to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full
Tilt Poker Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.
Low End Mac's Online Tech Journal
Sony's Memory Stick
The floppy disk is dead, but what will replace it?
For software distribution, nothing seems to rival CD-ROM. Almost every computer has a CD-ROM drive, the 650 MB capacity is sufficient for almost anything (except for some very involved games), and they can be pressed for well under $1 per disk.
Zip drives are relatively inexpensive, adding $100 or more to the cost of a computer system. But the disks themselves are still $20 each. Still, they're relatively fast, have a decent capacity, and seem to be showing up everywhere.
SuperDisk is too slow to make serious inroads. CD-R is still to expensive. DVD-RAM costs even more. And the new Iomega Clik drive seems too little, too late.
Thinking Different
Leave it to Sony, the Apple of the consumer electronics world, to come up with a solid state alternative to spinning disks.
The
Memory Stick is
small, measuring about 0.85" wide, 2" long, and 0.1" thick (21.5 x 50 x
2.8mm). That's a little thinner than a 3.5" floppy, half as long, and
about as wide as a stick of gum.
Media will initially ship in 4 MB, 8 MB, and 16 MB capacities. I think we can safely assume higher capacity sticks in the future.
The Memory Stick uses flash memory and communicates serially with your computer, organizer, digital camera, MP3 player, etc. That's right - it's cross platform not just among computers, but designed to work in all manner of consumer electronics (maybe even the next Play Station).
Write speed is 1.5 MB/s (megabytes per second), identical to the 12Mb/s (megabits per second) of USB. Read speed is faster at 2.45MB/s. Based on this, a USB connected Memory Stick reader/writer is probably something we'll see within the next year or so.
Also expect to see Memory Stick "drives" available in personal computers when this new technology achieves worldwide distribution - maybe even as a standard feature in a future iMac.
At this size, it could become very popular for digital cameras, especially since you'd no longer have to send data from the camera to the computer via a slow serial connection. Eject the Stick, pop it into your computer, and read it. Although slower than your hard drive, read speed should be comparable to that of a fast CD-ROM drive.
Sony is projecting 3,300 yen for a 4 MB Stick, 4,400 yen for an 8 MB Stick, and 11,000 yen for the Memory Stick PC Card Adapter. At the current exchange rate, this translates to about $28 for a 4 MB Stick, $37 for an 8 MB Stick, and $92 for the PC Card that lets them work with a computer. (I can't find pricing for the 16 MB Memory Stick on Sony's site.)
Pros and Cons
The Memory Stick Adapter should be cost competitive with Zip drives and SuperDisk. The speed will be excellent, and response should be instantaneous - no need to spin a disk up to speed before you can access it.
Like Zips and floppies, the media can be reused.
But from a strictly computer perspective, media looks very expensive. A $1 CD-R can store 650 MB, a $10 Zip can hold almost 100 MB, but the $37 Stick has a capacity of only 8 MB.
However, there are other markets, such as digital cameras, where the media cost of Memory Sticks will be very attractive. And, as more of us have digital cameras along with computers, the use of Memory Sticks could be a real plus.
Sony's hope is to make Memory Stick a universal standard for digital equipment: cameras, computers, game systems, digital audio gear, etc. If Sony is as successful as they hope to be, the Memory Stick will be ubiquitous - and media costs should drop as the market grows and technology advances.
The Memory Stick has the potential to change the way we move data between various types of digital equipment.
Further reading
- Memory Stick, Sony
Recent Online Tech Journal Columns
- Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, 06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac's CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
- Low End Mac's Safe Sleep FAQ, 06.15. What is Safe Sleep mode? Which Macs support it? How can you enable or disable it? And more.
- The Original Macintosh, 01.12. An in-depth look at the original Macintosh and how it shaped future Macs.
- The Innovative Lisa, 01.08. Apple's Lisa and how it paved the way for the Macintosh.
- More in the Online Tech Journal index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Pismo WiFi Networking Issue Finally Solved?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.24. It turns out the problems wasn't the Pismo, the Buffalo WiFi card, or Mac OS X 10.4. It was the Wireless G router - Linksys to the rescue!
- Mini VGA to S-video Adapter a No Go for eMacs, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 11.24. You might think that Apple's Mini VGA S-video adapter is a cheap way to connect your eMac or G4 iMac to your TV. You would be wrong.
- Google Calendar with iPhone or iTouch Is Great for Scheduling, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.24. Web-based Google Calendar allows access and updates from any computing platform, including Mac, Windows, Linux, and iPhone OS.
- Why Spaces is My Favorite Leopard (and Snow Leopard) Feature, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.23. Spaces, a feature introduced with OS X 10.5, is like having several monitors on your Mac without the cost and space of using multiple displays.
- i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
- Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
- NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.25. Refurb 8 GB 4G nano, $99; new, $126; refurb 16 GB, $129; new, $150; new 5G/8 GB, $134.60; 16 GB, $161.12. Shipping included.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 11.25. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $449; 1.67 GHz hi-res, $600.
- Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
- Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com
