How much do the parts for a thumb drive cost?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry
  • Start date Start date
T

Terry

Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for the technology?

How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
 
You are paying for the people who have the necessary technology and the
parts to put it together. Parts likely cost about $5.00

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Simple food chain:
Technology, Manufacturing, Tech Support and Warrantee (if any),
Distribution, Store's profit.
Everybody gets a piece of the action, some more, some less of the pie.
Brand new technology just released to the public $$$

JS
 
The first part of your question is answered.

As to the second part, unless flash memory technology vastly improves,
flash drives will never replace current hard drives. Hard drives are
much faster, more reliable and more robust.
 
I've seen 1 GB thumb drive for about $30, which means that
production and shipping cost is probably below $3.
Flash memory may replace hard drives in laptops within a
year or two, primarily to save power and increase speed.
The cost of most things is more to do with initial design
and production facilities and handling, than the raw
materials and unit labor.
Twenty years ago I had a Toshiba T1000 laptop that had the
OS in ROM and a virtual hard drive in RAM. It had no real
hard drive and only a 720 Kb floppy. It was B&W CGA and an
80C16 CPU at 4.77 MHz and ran a version of DOS.

Anybody wants to buy it, it still runs but needs either an
external monitor or a new LCD because it was damaged.



in message | You are paying for the people who have the necessary
technology and the
| parts to put it together. Parts likely cost about $5.00
|
| --
|
| Regards,
|
| Richard Urban
| Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
| (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
|
| Quote from George Ankner:
| If you knew as much as you think you know,
| You would realize that you don't know what you thought you
knew!
|
|
| > Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for the
technology?
| >
| > How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
| >
|
|
 
Ted Zieglar said:
Hard drives are much faster, more reliable and more robust.
Click to expand...

Hmm... Try this. Take an expendable hard drive and thumb drive. Hold them at
a height of say two meters above a concrete floor. Simultaneously release
them.

Which has a better chance of working again when you install it on a
computer, I wonder?
 
Terry said:
Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for the technology?
Click to expand...

As thumb drives are very inexpensive, I'm not sure where this question
is coming from. Mass produced thumb drive components are clearly
inexpensive, as the final assembled product is so inexpensive.

How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
Click to expand...


Probably never.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell
 
Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for the technology? As thumb
drives are very inexpensive, I'm not sure where this question
is coming from. Mass produced thumb drive components are clearly
inexpensive, as the final assembled product is so inexpensive.
Click to expand...

I was comparing Price per Gig to hard drives. I was not considering
size or portability. I do understand that having this portability
would be a plus.

I would think that the production cost of a hard drive, and all the
added costs, would be equal or greater than that of a thumb drive with
the same capacity.

I was assuming the extra cost of a thumb drive was because it is newer
technology.

You would think they could make a flash drive as small as a hard drive
for similar cost. I would think the power/heat requirements would be
lower.

As for replacing hard drives, I was also unaware that a solid state
device was not as fast as a mechanical hard drive.

I am just thinking out loud. As you can see, I don't have any of these
answers.
 
The only reason hard drives "appear" to be faster than thumb drives is
because the thumb drives are encumbered by the USB interface.

Put the flash memory into a hard drive that accesses the system bus directly
and it would leave a hard drive in the dust. Remember, electricity travels
at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second - rounded off). There is
just no way a mechanical device could ever begin to keep up with that.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Because of the difference in mass if dropped on a carpet then my money is on
the thumb drive.
If dropped on a hard surface then all bets are off for either drive.

JS
 
Got a Ti-99-4A too.


| Jim - Are you sure you want to sell your Toshiba? It's a
piece of history!
|
| ---
| Ted Zieglar
| "Backup is a computer user's best friend."
|
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| > I've seen 1 GB thumb drive for about $30, which means
that
| > production and shipping cost is probably below $3.
| > Flash memory may replace hard drives in laptops within a
| > year or two, primarily to save power and increase speed.
| > The cost of most things is more to do with initial
design
| > and production facilities and handling, than the raw
| > materials and unit labor.
| > Twenty years ago I had a Toshiba T1000 laptop that had
the
| > OS in ROM and a virtual hard drive in RAM. It had no
real
| > hard drive and only a 720 Kb floppy. It was B&W CGA and
an
| > 80C16 CPU at 4.77 MHz and ran a version of DOS.
| >
| > Anybody wants to buy it, it still runs but needs either
an
| > external monitor or a new LCD because it was damaged.
| >
| >
| >
| > "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>
wrote
| > in message | > | You are paying for the people who have the necessary
| > technology and the
| > | parts to put it together. Parts likely cost about
$5.00
| > |
| > | --
| > |
| > | Regards,
| > |
| > | Richard Urban
| > | Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
| > | (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
| > |
| > | Quote from George Ankner:
| > | If you knew as much as you think you know,
| > | You would realize that you don't know what you thought
you
| > knew!
| > |
| > |
| >
| > | > Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for
the
| > technology?
| > | >
| > | > How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
| > | >
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
 
Try 300,000,000 meters per second [rounded off]. Flash
memory is shock resistant, has no moving parts to wear out
and at current prices 500 GB would cost $5,000 dollars or
more. But that will come down, what you buy today for $300
cost $25,000 a decade ago.

A caddy with 500 Xd memory cards that connected directly to
the mobo on a wide bus would be fast, repairable by just
swapping cards, and will become a standard item by 2010 IMO.



in message | The only reason hard drives "appear" to be faster than
thumb drives is
| because the thumb drives are encumbered by the USB
interface.
|
| Put the flash memory into a hard drive that accesses the
system bus directly
| and it would leave a hard drive in the dust. Remember,
electricity travels
| at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second - rounded
off). There is
| just no way a mechanical device could ever begin to keep
up with that.
|
| --
|
| Regards,
|
| Richard Urban
| Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
| (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
|
| Quote from George Ankner:
| If you knew as much as you think you know,
| You would realize that you don't know what you thought you
knew!
|
| | > The first part of your question is answered.
| >
| > As to the second part, unless flash memory technology
vastly improves,
| > flash drives will never replace current hard drives.
Hard drives are much
| > faster, more reliable and more robust.
| >
| > ---
| > Ted Zieglar
| > "Backup is a computer user's best friend."
| >
| > Terry wrote:
| >> Are the parts expensive or are we just paying for the
technology?
| >>
| >> How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
| >>
|
|
 
Jim, I was lucky to sell my TI-99-4a, with the disk expansion box for more
than I paid for it. That was just before I bought a Kaypro NEC chipped
system with a 30 MB HD, and a 3.5" and 5 1/4" floppy setup, CGA. The Kaypro
only cost me $1700 which was a steal in those days. Still miss the days of
programming the TI with basic.
 
I used to go to stores and enter a BASIC program on the TI's
that were on the counter.
Don't remember all the codes.. but something like...
10 color to the same as the idle computer
20 input null string
30 print "Sorry I can't do that"
40 pause 5 seconds
50 input null string
60 print "dummy, I told you I can't do that"
70 loop 20


It was fun to watch people try to use the machine, even the
clerks had no clue,. Any input satisfied the null string,
the only fix was to unplug it.

I was young.



| Jim, I was lucky to sell my TI-99-4a, with the disk
expansion box for more
| than I paid for it. That was just before I bought a
Kaypro NEC chipped
| system with a 30 MB HD, and a 3.5" and 5 1/4" floppy
setup, CGA. The Kaypro
| only cost me $1700 which was a steal in those days. Still
miss the days of
| programming the TI with basic.
|
|
in message
| | > Got a Ti-99-4A too.
| >
| >
| > | > | Jim - Are you sure you want to sell your Toshiba? It's
a
| > piece of history!
| > |
| > | ---
| > | Ted Zieglar
| > | "Backup is a computer user's best friend."
| > |
| > | Jim Macklin wrote:
| > | > I've seen 1 GB thumb drive for about $30, which
means
| > that
| > | > production and shipping cost is probably below $3.
| > | > Flash memory may replace hard drives in laptops
within a
| > | > year or two, primarily to save power and increase
speed.
| > | > The cost of most things is more to do with initial
| > design
| > | > and production facilities and handling, than the raw
| > | > materials and unit labor.
| > | > Twenty years ago I had a Toshiba T1000 laptop that
had
| > the
| > | > OS in ROM and a virtual hard drive in RAM. It had
no
| > real
| > | > hard drive and only a 720 Kb floppy. It was B&W CGA
and
| > an
| > | > 80C16 CPU at 4.77 MHz and ran a version of DOS.
| > | >
| > | > Anybody wants to buy it, it still runs but needs
either
| > an
| > | > external monitor or a new LCD because it was
damaged.
| > | >
| > | >
| > | >
| > | > "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>
| > wrote
| > | > in message
| > | > | You are paying for the people who have the
necessary
| > | > technology and the
| > | > | parts to put it together. Parts likely cost about
| > $5.00
| > | > |
| > | > | --
| > | > |
| > | > | Regards,
| > | > |
| > | > | Richard Urban
| > | > | Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
| > | > | (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
| > | > |
| > | > | Quote from George Ankner:
| > | > | If you knew as much as you think you know,
| > | > | You would realize that you don't know what you
thought
| > you
| > | > knew!
| > | > |
| > | > |
| > | >
| >
| > | > | > Are the parts expensive or are we just paying
for
| > the
| > | > technology?
| > | > | >
| > | > | > How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
| > | > | >
| > | > |
| > | > |
| > | >
| > | >
| >
| >
|
|
 
Jim Macklin said:
I've seen 1 GB thumb drive for about $30, which means that
production and shipping cost is probably below $3.
Flash memory may replace hard drives in laptops within a
year or two, primarily to save power and increase speed.
Click to expand...

From what I've read in the engineering mags, flash still has issues with
access speed, but the primary issue is a finite number of read/write cycles.
When they perfect the magnetic 'flash' technologies then well see this come
true.

-John O
 
CTRL-C should have popped it out.

Jim said:
I used to go to stores and enter a BASIC program on the TI's
that were on the counter.
Don't remember all the codes.. but something like...
10 color to the same as the idle computer
20 input null string
30 print "Sorry I can't do that"
40 pause 5 seconds
50 input null string
60 print "dummy, I told you I can't do that"
70 loop 20


It was fun to watch people try to use the machine, even the
clerks had no clue,. Any input satisfied the null string,
the only fix was to unplug it.

I was young.



| Jim, I was lucky to sell my TI-99-4a, with the disk
expansion box for more
| than I paid for it. That was just before I bought a
Kaypro NEC chipped
| system with a 30 MB HD, and a 3.5" and 5 1/4" floppy
setup, CGA. The Kaypro
| only cost me $1700 which was a steal in those days. Still
miss the days of
| programming the TI with basic.
|
|
in message
| | > Got a Ti-99-4A too.
| >
| >
| > | > | Jim - Are you sure you want to sell your Toshiba? It's
a
| > piece of history!
| > |
| > | ---
| > | Ted Zieglar
| > | "Backup is a computer user's best friend."
| > |
| > | Jim Macklin wrote:
| > | > I've seen 1 GB thumb drive for about $30, which
means
| > that
| > | > production and shipping cost is probably below $3.
| > | > Flash memory may replace hard drives in laptops
within a
| > | > year or two, primarily to save power and increase
speed.
| > | > The cost of most things is more to do with initial
| > design
| > | > and production facilities and handling, than the raw
| > | > materials and unit labor.
| > | > Twenty years ago I had a Toshiba T1000 laptop that
had
| > the
| > | > OS in ROM and a virtual hard drive in RAM. It had
no
| > real
| > | > hard drive and only a 720 Kb floppy. It was B&W CGA
and
| > an
| > | > 80C16 CPU at 4.77 MHz and ran a version of DOS.
| > | >
| > | > Anybody wants to buy it, it still runs but needs
either
| > an
| > | > external monitor or a new LCD because it was
damaged.
| > | >
| > | >
| > | >
| > | > "Richard Urban" <[email protected]>
| > wrote
| > | > in message
| > | > | You are paying for the people who have the
necessary
| > | > technology and the
| > | > | parts to put it together. Parts likely cost about
| > $5.00
| > | > |
| > | > | --
| > | > |
| > | > | Regards,
| > | > |
| > | > | Richard Urban
| > | > | Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
| > | > | (For email, remove the obvious from my address)
| > | > |
| > | > | Quote from George Ankner:
| > | > | If you knew as much as you think you know,
| > | > | You would realize that you don't know what you
thought
| > you
| > | > knew!
| > | > |
| > | > |
| > | >
| >
| > | > | > Are the parts expensive or are we just paying
for
| > the
| > | > technology?
| > | > | >
| > | > | > How soon are these going to replace hard drives?
| > | > | >
| > | > |
| > | > |
| > | >
| > | >
| >
| >
|
|
Click to expand...
 
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