Term of the Moment
Lua
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Definition: USB drive
(1) An external storage or optical disc drive that plugs into the USB port. See portable hard drive.
(2) A small solid state storage module that plugs into the computer's USB port. Using flash memory chips that can hold up to a terabyte and more of data, USB drives are used for auxiliary storage, backup, data transfer between computers and for disseminating product information. They can also hold an operating system and be used to boot the computer (see bootable disk). The ever-increasing storage capacities of USB drives have all but rendered writable CDs and DVDs obsolete. See sneakernet.
Windows and Mac Compatible
USB drives are commonly formatted to be compatible between Windows and Mac computers. The FAT and exFAT file formats provide this compatibility (see FAT32 and exFAT.
Known By Many Names
Debuting at the turn of the century, a USB drive is commonly called a "flash drive" as well as many other monikers. Any combination of the words "USB," "flash," "key," "drive," "jump" and "stick" are used (see USB drive names).
Transfer Speed
USB drive vendors use the data transfer ratings of CD-ROMs, where each "x" equals 150KB per second. For example, a 90x drive is 13.5MB/sec (90 x 150). See CD-ROM drives and solid state.
Long-Term Marketing Mileage
No Bigger Than the Plug
Steampunk Drives
Fun and to the Point
One Terabyte USB Drive
(2) A small solid state storage module that plugs into the computer's USB port. Using flash memory chips that can hold up to a terabyte and more of data, USB drives are used for auxiliary storage, backup, data transfer between computers and for disseminating product information. They can also hold an operating system and be used to boot the computer (see bootable disk). The ever-increasing storage capacities of USB drives have all but rendered writable CDs and DVDs obsolete. See sneakernet.
Windows and Mac Compatible
USB drives are commonly formatted to be compatible between Windows and Mac computers. The FAT and exFAT file formats provide this compatibility (see FAT32 and exFAT.
Known By Many Names
Debuting at the turn of the century, a USB drive is commonly called a "flash drive" as well as many other monikers. Any combination of the words "USB," "flash," "key," "drive," "jump" and "stick" are used (see USB drive names).
Transfer Speed
USB drive vendors use the data transfer ratings of CD-ROMs, where each "x" equals 150KB per second. For example, a 90x drive is 13.5MB/sec (90 x 150). See CD-ROM drives and solid state.
Vendors give away custom-printed USB drives preloaded with promotional material, because people keep using them. In 2000, the first 128MB flash drive sold for about $30. In 2022, a 4GB USB drive (32 times the capacity) retailed for about $2 in quantities of 100.
In 2010, Verbatim launched its Tuff-"N"-Tiny line, only two millimeters thick. Although the contacts are exposed (top left), the units are water and dust proof.
A 19th century USB drive... of course. These drive cases are hand crafted. See steampunk. (Image courtesy of WillRockwell, www.etsy.com/shop/WillRockwell)
Bevy makes devices that hold a user's photo collection, and this rather appropriate USB drive holds its promotional material.
In 2013, Kingston Technology introduced the first 1TB drive, which increased to 2TB in 2017. Imagine telling someone in 1997 when floppy disks were still used that in 20 years, a handheld device would hold the equivalent of one and a half million of them.