Storage & Blank Media

Like the rest of the electronics industry, computer storage media has changed so fast over the past generation, it may seem impossible to keep up. As computers gained more uses, blank media to store and transport data became that much more important.

Magnetic tape came first; followed by floppy disks; then blank CD media and blank DVD media; and, most recently, flash drives. By the way, a "disk" is magnetic; a "disc" is optical. Floppy disks, mostly the high capacity zip disk types, are still in use, though most computers don't even have floppy drives anymore. Compact discs and digital versatile discs now dominate the market.

Worried about keeping all this tech-speak straight? Don't be, the USB flash drive will probably replace them all in very short order! The flash drive is a whole new idea -- a chip with a plug in a case. It's simple, tougher than a blank CD RW or blank DVD RW, and if it is damaged, data recovery is more likely. For now, USB flash drives are far more expensive than blank DVD discs, but the gap gets narrower every year.

Portability of