IBM's New USBKey Device

John Brown writes: "[T]oday I called 1-888-Shop-IBM and talked to a representive about the possibility of buying a Thinkpad X20; I wasn't too happy with the fact that it lacks an internal floppy drive, so the guy told me that during the next week IBM will be releasing a storage device called 'USBKey' which basically looks like a (guess what...) key (it is even meant to be kept in your key-ring), but fits into a USB port, allowing you to store up to 8MB of data in it. Amazing! You may very well live in a world in which 100Mbits/s is a common thing, but for the rest of us a highly portable and universally accepted data medium which allows you to store 5 times more than 1.44MB is good news." I would also like to see AOL start sending out (rewriteable) 8MB USB keychains. Note: no reason that such things should be limited to 8MB, either -- we featured a similar toy a while ago; I wonder if IBM is licensing it. Update: 02/06 04:39 AM by T : Thanks to PongoX11, who writes: "It looks like the drive you heard about already exists. I work in a computer retailer and remember seeing these on the shelves."

Comments

$49 isn't a bad deal.

[ca1v1n]

Ok, so $6/MB may seem a bit excessive, but when you consider that it's a completely self-contained unit, requiring no reboot to use, extremely portable, and five times larger than the 1.44 MB floppies that are starting to feel a bit small, it sounds a lot more attractive. Memory sticks are nice, but I don't have the hardware for them, so I'm out of that market unless I want make a substantial investment. Seeing as I don't, I think I'll be quite happy with this. As it stands my university network is fine for my needs, but for those in the real world, it makes a lot of sense.

Re:$49 isn't a bad deal.

[LilBear]

For $49 one can get atleast a 340MB and possibly a 520MB PCMCIA hard drive. A self contained unit that can plug into any laptop. Down side, is that a $20 PCI/ISA adapter is needed for desktops. Still for comparison its $(0.10 to 0.15)/MB.

Re:Security = ibuton

[Lumpy]

Umm the ibutton has been around far longer and can actually withstand living on a keychain. This USBkey cannot withstand immersion, being crushed, or the other 60 problems of existing in proximity of a human.

I have one of these, they are novel but delicate.

While I can park my car on my ibutton and it will still happily let me in the building, log me onto the network, and store my important data (64K so it's only text, or favorites, or the 60,000 username/password combinations for these websites)

USBkey = neato but not useable for what they are marketing it for..

Use a carabiner

[sjbe]

There's an easy solution to leaving your keys hanging around. Use a carabiner to carry your multiple key rings. I've been using one to hold my keys for years. Allows me to get out and get into the house or check my mail without turning the car off. Also can separate whatever keys I need from the rest if I'm going to the mechanic, going out running or whatever. Very convenient. My fiance even uses one now that she saw how convenient it can be.

For those of you who don't know what a carabiner is, it is a sort of retaining ring with a one-way latch. They are (usually) very strong and they are most commonly used by rock/mountain climbers. They're pretty commonly sold as key rings these days. I've seen them at Home Depot recently.

Re:Use a carabiner

[BiOFH]

Can't seem to get my USB port to recognize this h'yar carabiner thingamabob. Had a heck of a time insertin' it in the danged port, too. I think it's defective. There was a pop and a spark and then some doggone message about Boot Media Not Found... right before the whole confounded contraption just plain died.
And that little book about tyin' knots that came with it?? Is that somthin' to do with that newfangled encryption stuff I keep hearin' bout?
N. Bred

Multiple Uses

[maggard]

Frankly this beats the pants off of all the PCMCIA/PC-Card formats (and sounds a lot less annoying then Sony's DOA "Memory Stick".)

USB at this point is well nigh universal, lots of us would love to carry a few MB of stable material (hey, bring along your own plug-in encryption) and floppies are just too delicate. If this thing is robust enough to take the random static of hanging off my key-ring it'd be great.

Potential Advantages:

• Nearly universal hardware support.
• Potentially widespread OS support (most USB implementations ship with some standard device-types, if this can mount as a supported file system then it's already out there.)
• Reasonably sized media.
• Big-name supplier.

Potential Disadvantages

• Another media format.
• Entering a crowded market.
• Likely limited to USB 1.0's slow speed.
• Small amount of storage.
• Unknown cost.

Re:Multiple Uses

[UU7]

"Likely limited to USB 1.0's slow speed. " well, for only an 8 meg device .. *shrug* tho support for 2.0 would be nice, but seeing as hou it is not yet really available I dont think that is really a disadvantage

Re:Multiple Uses

[maggard]

Limited to USB 1.0's slow speed 'cause most of the competition is considerably faster and it's safe to presume that >8 MB is in the offing.

Presumably soon we'll see if USB 2.0 really works or if FireWire/1394/iLink really is the future but in the meantime USB 1.0 is slow for a memory device.

Re:Multiple Uses

[Karpe]

> Likely limited to USB 1.0's slow speed.

Yeah, It would take a lot of time (about 6 seconds) to fill all that storage. ;-)

I agree with that for larger storage devices, though.

Re:The Key Analogy is for Real

[Lumpy]

The ibutton is already here, already done that.
Oh, and the ibutton is nearly indestructable, very unlike the usb key toy.

You need to look at the fact that Linux already supports ibutton login/access. windows products also. and the fact that the encryption of the ibutton is a 2 party encryption so is far superior than the usbkey could eever be.

ibutton at www.ibutton.com

it's hee, and I open my house locks with it, login, and start my harley with it..... the usbkey can't.

Re:Not another one

[skazatmebaby]

Macintosh have USB ports all over the place, there are two on my keyboard - actually on any keyboard made by macintosh in the last 3 years.

s k a z a t

Re:Would be great for storing prefs/auth info

[HerrNewton]

Do what I do: external FireWire hard drive. my whole system in 8oz. (Mac user---Linux mileage may vary.)

----

only for IBM?

[luugi]

Is this device only going to work on IBM machines? I see that the prerequites are all IBM systems. It's useless if it is. I feel that 8MB is really not enough anyways. At 49$ on top of that! I rather bue an external zip drive or something similar.

floppies...

[AstynaxX]

I agree about floppies. Indeed, I keep about 3 or 4 boot floppies around, in case one goes bad. And working the university help desk has shown me how often floppies go south. Every week, someone gets a paper eaten by a bitchy floppy. I have found ZIP disks to be a fairly usable replacement. Tons of PC's have ZIP drives now, and they hold a LOT more.[no, I don't work for IOmega. My first ZIP drive actually had the old click of death. Their support, however, promptly replaced it, free of charge, even though I had bought it second hand online, so they're one company I like:)]

-={(Astynax)}=-

Re:floppies...

[AndyChrist]

I always tell people not to use them. When I see someone using a floppy for something important (or losing something important to a floppy), I show them how to use FTP (all students at my school have a few megs of space they can FTP to), and point out that if they do that with all their papers, they'll actually have multiple copies to fall back on.

I've seen a few people lose things to zip disks, too...glorified floppies, those.

Anyhow, I do like the idea of these things. Get it down to 10 or 15 bucks, and no doubt they'll really take off. Especially as more manufacturers start putting USB ports on the FRONT of their machines :P

Re:floppies...

[AndyChrist]

the last time I used a floppy when I had a CHOICE, was when I lost about 4 days worth of work on an image I was creating in photoshop to a Prodigy floppy disk. (The disks I actually BOUGHT around that time are mostly still just fine. I think 1996 was the last year you could buy a decent floppy disk.)

Re:floppies...

[rosewood]

With WinVNC and ftp, http serving it has been a long time since I have needed a floppy drive for anything (with a few forced exceptions). However, there are still times when the gods are out to get you and things just dont work and you cant print your shit off.

Re:floppies...

[Rader]

Ok, these floppy stories reminded me of a horrible procedure I caught at a business...

I had told them that they should be keeping backup of their newspaper ads/articles on floppy in case the hard drive ever went out.

I come back half a year later, and find out that they ARE using the floppies. But as their own copy. Yep...all saves, opens, and live EDITS straight from the floppy! Nothing on the hard drive.

So after having a mild hear attack, I sat my dad down and explained the finer points of the computer...starting with the ON button.

Rader

Re:connectors

[daniel2000]

I guess so: this just leaves the software driver for the gadget the job of dealing with a partially working connector without corruption of any data- i guess this should be no problem.

Mini Usb Hard Drives

[unseenthings]

8 megs is nice, so is 16, 32, and 64. but If you want real storage try those sizes and 128 and 256 megs in a usb device the size of a key look on tigerdirect.com

hahahahahahaha

[loraksus]

Aol won't fit into 8 mb.
For the rest of you, read the fscking article.

Re:What if it's stolen?

[Theran]

And what if it gets lost/stolen? Then you're FUCKED!

Like your car keys? So? Just don't lose it, or make a backup.What makes it so special in this regard vs physical keys?

Re:The new floppy

[HaveBlue34]

I think something like this can become the new floppy, if it is cheap enough and not proprietary. I think the first time I saw this was when it was called the thumb drive. If I am not mistaken it is just some compact flash storage connected to a usb plug and encased in plastic. It is very small, durable and can be plugged into any modern computer. If several companies get together and write generic drivers for these kinds of devices and include them with new computers they would probably take over. Heck you could even write simple scripts that could store preferences, config files, desktop pics, bookmarks, login/pw info, pgp keys, etc. on these things. I think it would be great if I could walk up to a machine, plug this thing in, have it log me in, load my bookmarks into the web browser and set the desktop pic. Not to mention I could keep private or financial information on it that I do not want to transfer over the web. Despite being able to ftp or email small files very easily, a lot of people are not comfotable without something physical holding their data. I hope someone picks up on this and buries those stupid memory sticks. Enconomies of scale would probably enable this to become cheap enough to even store mp3s! -HB

One thing not yet mentioned.

[elf-umf]

What about the fact that USB ports have a finite number of insertions/removals before the port itself will need replacing (approximately 10,000 if memory servers me correct) I was about to get a token key security system for my laptop using a USB key and didn't for just that reason..

Re:One thing not yet mentioned.

[Zalgon 26 McGee]

Well, let's think about this one.

If you remove your USB key once every day, that's 365 insertions a year, or roughly 27 years before it breaks. Up your average to 10 times a day, and you're still looking at 2 years 8 months... by which time you'll have replaced the system with a newer and better one anyways.

Re:Security

[Chagrin]

I guess what I was thinking of included encrypting the hard disk. The BIOS could be reconfigured to a hacker's heart's content, but without the keys on the USB Key to unlock the hard drive, he wouldn't get anywhere (well, he'd still have your computer which would suck)

Your friend's solution of requiring a password on boot up to decrypt the disk is probably plenty sufficient (he's probably using PPDD). Really loses the sexiness of being able to carry around a tangible object that truly is the "key", however :)

Re:But will it boot off one?

[Edmund]

My Toshiba Portege 3480 notebook will boot off its USB floppy drive. I've heard (but not confirmed) that the USB floppy drives off Sony Vaio SR notebooks will work too. It shouldn't be too different, since Linux sees them the same (as a SCSI storage device).

In fact, it shouldn't be too hard to implement booting from USB storage devices in the BIOS, since there *is* a standard for such devices. But it looks like the notebook manufacturers are a step ahead on this one.

- Ed.

It has been around and is called a Thumbdrive

[SirFlakey]

I have seen that tech around for a little while. Trek I think are the original manufacturers and offer 8Mb to 512Mb versions as well as Encrypted drives up to 128Mb [product link].

From the specification page at the above site:
(Secure version of product)
Password Protection Max 15 Characters
Operating Temperature 0C ~ +50C
Storage Temperature -20C ~ +80C
Relative Humidity under operating 20% ~ 80%
Relative Humidity under storage 5% ~ 95%
Insertion 5000 cycles
Data Reading Speed(ThumbDrive Secure to Host) 750Kbytes/Sec(Depending on PC system)
Data Writing Speed(Host to ThumbDrive Secure) 350Kbytes/Sec(Depending on PC system)
Safety Compliance FCC class B, CE

--

Re:It has been around and is called a Thumbdrive

[British]

A friend of mine springed for one. The size of a pack of chewing gum. Real nice. Hope the prices go down someday, and push for a front mounted USB port, or a port on a keyboard so you don't have to reach in back of the case.

Re:It has been around and is called a Thumbdrive

[Wolfbaine]

For keyboards with USB, the Evil Empire offers

• Internet Keyboard Pro
• Natural Keyboard Pro
• Natural Keyboard Elite

Logitech offers:

• iTouch Keyboard

For systems with USB, IBM offers:

• Netvista small business range

Compaq offers:

• Presario range

Re:Security

[Kreeblah]

Yeah. But a notebook is just about the only thing that this would be useful with, unless you have either a frontside USB port on your desktops (which isn't too common outside of specially-manufactured brand name products) or a USB hub. I know I wouldn't want to have to crawl behind my computer just to plug one of these things in.

Re:Security

[goonda]

I think thats a nifty idea. but the real question is: does it work with Linux or *BSD? Probably somebody could hack up the USB filesystem (like used for the support of Sony Cybershot camers under linux)

Re:Perfect for students

[Stormie]

If they could just bump up the capacity to about 64MB ;)

If you want 64Mb of portable, USB-connecting storage, just buy a Rio 500 and download Riorio.. and you can listen to music too!

Seriously.. I was kind of keen to get an MP3 walkman, but the factor that pushed me from being "kind of keen", to actually spending the cash, was the ability to do a bit of leeching via the fast net connection at work, and conveniently take the files home..

I wonder ...

[HerringFlavoredFowl]

I wonder if it's the M-Systems USB Flash Disk on Key product...

Me an a budy had an idea for a product based on one of these devices last fall. When we contacted them, they said IBM had bought out there entire production for the next few quarters. Sorry we have no engineering samples to sell you. (and no it was not the IBM product, it was an idea I thought was marginal but worth trying and may still happen...)

Makes me wonder...

TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken

M-Systems has had a real presence at the few embedded linux conferences I've seen. Worth looking at M-Systems other FLASH storage devices for those embedded apps.

Windows survival kit

[acb]

That's what those business-card-sized CD-Rs are for. Burn one with a copy of Putty, a Zip extractor and a few other essentials and carry it in your wallet.

<ASIDE>I wonder what proportion of Internet kiosks/cafes let you insert and access arbitrary CDs. It would be handy for securely checking your mail when on the road.</ASIDE>

Re:Windows survival kit

[bacchus612]

I had no idea that those truncated CD's were available in a CD-R form. If one can indeed burn those disks with a standard CD-R drive, that would be the ideal solution. Where can I get some???

bah.

[Zurk]

we have had 512MB AND secure storage for a long time.

Re:bah.

[frknfrk]

i couldn't see a way to order the trek from that site. where to get this?

Re:bah.

[UU7]

thumbdrive secure is 8MB to 128MB. tho yes, thumbdrive is 8MB to 512MB. nice toy to have either way

Re:bah.

[jea6]

Yeah... but I didn't see a key ring!

Floppies 25 cents Keys 60 dollars

[jkorty]

Floppies cost $.25 each. I can hand them out to my friends and not worry about getting them back. This is probably the most useful feature of floppies. I can't see doing this with a USB key costing $60.

Perfect for students

[Goonie]

This sort of thing would have been ideal at high school - small, convenient, durable, more reliable than floppies, affordable, etc. etc. etc.

If they could just bump up the capacity to about 64MB ;)

Re:Perfect for students

[Zalgon 26 McGee]

64mb would be perfect? Look to: Agaté Technologies then - they have a 64Mb model in Graphite colour.

Get a hub.

[acb]

Chances are your USB ports are uselessly located around the back of your machine anyway.

If you have one in the front of your case, it's probably not soldered to the board, and may be replaceable.

SmartCard substitute?

[larse]

With USB being so prevalent, could these become a viable alternative to SmartCards? 8MB seems plenty for a few keys and algorithms, even in multiple representations. Of course, you'd need to trust them to be read-only...

Re:SmartCard substitute?

[Darren.Moffat]

No. SmartCards are NOT just data storage they have a processor on board that runs code and can thus provide protection against data removal. For example if I store my RSA key pair on the card I can ensure the private key never leaves the card because any encryption done using the private key is done on the card which has security mechanisms in place to stop the key data leaving it.

These small USB drives are just that physically small drives they are not Smart in the SmartCard sense.

A double-edged sword

[acb]

It is said that who has the money sets the stsndards. Chances are such a key would also contain a mandatory digital signature/ID (issued by Verisign, and as hard to fake as a passport (not to mention illegal to have more than one of)), eyeball-tracking cookies and software/media keys. It would become a universal ID card/software dongle.

mp3?

[Sahib!]

Although a bit expensive now, if these things catch on, they would be a cute way to store and distribute a couple of .mp3's.

All clear, wail the sirens!

Plugging the darn thing in

[west]

Floppies have one big advantage over this thing. Floppy drives are accessed through the front of the machine!

I still can't believe that so few computer manufacurers put a USB port on the front of the machine. Every time I want to plug a nice "convenient" USB peripheral in, it takes 10 minutes of wrestling with the computer (with a 60 lb monitor on top) that's stuck against a wall...

This device would be thrice as sweet if my computers had USB ports in the front. As is, it's no floppy replacement.

Re:Plugging the darn thing in

[CaseyB]

Hopefully this is something that will be solved in time, as USB becomes the default connection for keyboards and mice, as it should be. Then, like Apple figured out ages ago, you can put hubs in your monitor & keyboard, so you've always got some handy ports.

My monitor has an embedded USB hub in the base, it's a really nice convenience.

Re:Here is a link

[litheum]

YOU BADASS! Office Space.. fucking BEST MOVIE i've ever seen.

Would be great for storing prefs/auth info

[Theran]

Lately I have had a wet dream about a small device that is supported on all machines and allows you to take your cryptographic keys and desktop preferences anywhere you go. Instead of remembering different passwords, you just insert your card into the machine, and it automatically logs on as you. The desktop pops up with your preferences for colors, font size, keyboard layout and accelerators. It knows your POP/IMAP settings so you can get your email. Since this is a dream, I also imagined it to be supported on all major platforms (Win, Mac, Linux) in a consistent way.

This little device could actually make this dream a reality. One of the problems I came up with was that every machine would have to have a card reader. Using USB instead means that almost any desktop you sit down in front of these days has the prerequisite slot built in.

Of course, this will probably never get the needed OS support. Apple might do it for the style factor, Sun might do it for their thin client vision, Linux will do it because we can, but I dont see Microsoft doing it in a standard way until they absoulutely have to. Since Windows is what is running most desktops, this idea can't work without Microsofts help. Maybe it meshes with their .NET idea?

Maybe someone from Sun or Oracle will read this, it will get a cool, buzzwordy name and be implemented for thin clients. With any luck, big enterprises will use it. Then, they'll demand it to be supported in Windows, and I'll be able to carry my anime wallpaper wherever I go.

Re:Security

[litheum]

Having a damn flash rom disk hanging off of my keychain sure as shit isn't sexy... maybe a fingerprint thing or something, but i don't need more shit dangling off my keychain.

Re:The Key Analogy is for Real

[nathanh]

I don't know about the device the article author is referring to, but the USB key I played with could do challenge/response, so it must have had an onboard CPU.

This thing is JUST A DISK...

The article's device might be. That's why I made it clear that I was playing with a different device. There's really no need for you to fly off the handle like this. Makes you look weird.

Washing machine

[gtada]

Ugh, I'll have to keep it OFF my keychain.

Re:Washing machine

[Mooset]

They may be more durable than you think. I've managed to forget about Playstation memory cards and send them through the washer and they are none worse for it.

Good thing I was line drying my jeans, I'm sure the dryer machine would have been a bit harsher... ;)

Re:Washing machine

[purple_rider]

So, a Playstation card is more important than a project summary for a VP of the comapany you work for?

Re:Washing machine

[Wire Tap]

Hehe, like I said, don't ask. :-) And to respond to the post below this one: No, it wasn't porn! Just some stuff I kind of got introuble for a few years back. It was quite an interesting thing, actually. Although digging for a pack of floppies buried in the mud was far from exciting. *grins*

Re:Washing machine

[Wire Tap]

Solid state stuff probably won't be damaged as much by water, as long as it dries in a reasonable lenght of time (Ie, before sever oxidation occurs). Even floppies and CDs have no problem dealing with water. I used to hide floppies in a river bed (don't ask) and when I needed them I would dig them up, remove the "platter" and put them in a case with dry "pads" (the white things on the sides of the disk) and voila, a working disk! So, solid state stuff will be fine!

Re:Washing machine

[Rude Turnip]

"I used to hide floppies in a river bed (don't ask)"

Oh my, the lengths we'll go to hide our pr0n habits.

Re:Washing machine

[joekool]

we are to assume it's from your hacking days then, perhaps password lists, or ill gotten software?
wait--are you Kevin?--you can't get near a computer, what good does a floppy do you!
Oh, and for easier access, next time try behind a condom machine, in a bathroom somewhere!

Re:Washing machine

[vheissu]

>>> So, a Playstation card is more important than a project summary for a VP of the comapany you work for? Get to the fourth disk of any SquareSoft title, and you'll agree...

Re:Washing machine

[Wire Tap]

*grins* That movie was a riot. The user interface was _way_ advanced for the minitor Dade used. *snicker*

Re:Et Tu Brutus

[CokeBear]

Anonymity allows the Microsoft employee to post unto Slash the company secrets...
There are so many instances where anonymity is essential.
Lots of shady stuff happening in government and corporations. People need to know about it, and there has to be a safe place to reveal that info.

Slashdot is that place.

Re:Security

[po_boy]

BIOS support? you don't have to boot from it, you know.

All your dangifiknow are belong to us.

Interesting idea

[GrandCow]

The first thing that I thought of after reading this was that it would be the perfect addition to a car MP3 player. If you could somehow get a USB port near your cars mp3 head unit, you would have an incredibly easy to use sound system. 2 or 3 of these keys with 64 megs would work for almost any long distance drive. And when you get tired of the songs on there, it would only take a few minutes to erase them and put all new ones on.

Just a thought, I guess I'll start looking into that now :)

-C

Get a Mac

[Frobozz0]

Well, if you used a Mac it would be nearly impossible to ruin it to the point where you can't boot off a CD. In fact, I can't think of anything short of a hardware failure. Then again, in 14 years of Mac usage I've only had to boot from a CD (instead of my HD) maybe 3 or 4 times.

The floppy has been technologically dead for about 5 to 10 years now. I haven't used one in that amount of time, either. I realize not everyone has a use for larger disks like the Zip, but buying one Zip disk at 250 megs of space is hardly breaking the bank... not to mention everyone and their grandmother has a zip drive.

Re:Get a Mac

[riedquat]

Depends how often you change the hardware; I'm quite used to swapping connectors around inside the machine to run different applications or sawing a bit off the power supply fan to fit a new motherboard in. Do you think a Mac would cope as well with such frequent hardware changes? (That's not a rhetorical question)

Expensive, too damned expensive.

[FrozedSolid]

Jeeze... This is gonna so obviously fail. You know why no ones ever heard of this nifty thing? BECAUSE IT'S A BAD IDEA! It's the same problem with Flash Memory, Smart Media... etc. It costs a fortune. And the price ain't gonna drop because no one's dumb enough to buy a zillion because the next thing you know, they'll decide they have a better idea and the standards war starts all over again...

I would also like to see AOL start sending out (rewriteable) 8MB USB keychains.

Yeah... Right. As if AOL doesn't already waste a zillion dollors sending 1337 script kiddies AOL disks so they can erase them.... I'm telling you IT'S DOOMED! Plus, drivers, It needs drivers. At school, I don't have access to the C: drive, control panel or adding new devices. At school, we can open stuff on the desktop. Some of which includes apps, Home folder (dubbed the I: drive or "Home Drive"), and the floppy drive. We don't get access to this new F: drive or whatever, and i doubt they'd like the idea of kids fumbling behind the computer with putting some mysterious 8MB of storage. They're paranoid enough about floppies. Floppies are like IRQs, were stuck with them as long there's people with old data or ISA cards... Heck, some people still are using PUNCHCARDS

Re:Expensive, too damned expensive.

[emc]

What school do you go to that uses Punch Cards?

University of Stuckinthestoneage?

Re:Expensive, too damned expensive.

[FrozedSolid]

my school doesn't use punch cards! I was just saying that they're still in use....

Re:We have one.

[emc]

What about CDR/CD-ROM.

Most modern BIOS' will boot from CDROM, the ISO9660 FS is open, it seems pretty safe.

but then again, I still use my 1.44MB floppy.

Re:Security

[sirinek]

That's a good point though I have a pretty recent board (Abit KT7) and it supports booting from "USB Zip" and "USB FDD", which maybe this key could emulate?

My post was really referring to being able to read/write to these keys at the OS level though.

siri

Security

[sl3xd]

This would make a WONDERFUL way to secure a notebook - an 8 MB key!!! More than gratuitous, but it could hold keys for other computers as well.

Re:Security

[Gehenna_Gehenna]

The front of my PS2 sports a pair of usb ports... I wonder if this could be used as some sort of Uber memory card.....

Re:Security

[elmegil]

Didn't anyone follow the link that someone provided?

It only works with Win2000 and Win ME "without drivers" (which of course means the drivers are built in). No mention is made of any other OS, aside from "Work with today's popular operating systems"; however, that's immediately following the comments about Win2000 & WinME, so it could well be Marketing Speak for "M$ only".

Re:Security

[Rader]

Well, my only concern is that everything I've read so far is bypassable. (good word, huh)
You could go to BIOS and set the startup sequence to point to USB (for instance). However, the burglar could go into BIOS and change that around.

Ooh..but you say we could and admin password in BIOS. But Then the battery could be taken out and reset. No more password.

I heard from one paranoid mp3 person I know of just mounts his whole drive with some sort of encryption. And unmounts simply with a password. However, this seems like an application-level security which is the angle you'd take to hack this. Any suggestions?

Rader

Re:Security

[1337d00d]

Really loses the sexiness of being able to carry around a tangible object that truly is the "key", however :)

No no no, you see, you get an 8mb password that allows the operating system to read the hard drive.. or maybe just dump the filesystem data onto the key and just write raw data to the HD? Either way, the hard disk loses functionality without the 'key'. That would be so sweet. (unless you lost the key, but you could make backups on your main system)

Re:Security

[sirinek]

This is IBM we're talking here. Given their track record with Linux, I don't see why it shouldnt work with Linux either right now, or in the short term. I can't say anything about *BSD since I dont use them and have no real idea what HW support is like on those systems.

siri

Re:Security

[Chagrin]

Sounds like more of a BIOS issue than anything else. Remember when you put your last computer together, there are quite specific settings as to the boot order of the hard drive, floppy, and CDROM. I don't think I ever recall seeing "USB Key".

It's quite unfortunate that current BIOS's are such poop - we'll never see any sort of USB Key capability. I just wish I had more skills or the time that I could be useful on the OpenBIOS project.

Re:Security

[Vassily Overveight]

This would make a WONDERFUL way to secure a notebook - an 8 MB key!!! More than gratuitous, but it could hold keys for other computers as well.

I actually saw a mockup of such a device that a company we deal with is developing. It's a weensy crypto device about the size of my thumb that hooks to the USB port and without which the hard disk contents are unreadable. I bet Qualcomm's Irwin Jacobs wishes he'd had one of those.

huh?

[wwest4]

Floppies are useful as a ubiquitous transfer medium more than as a storage solution. If you have USB, you don't need some gimmicky storage device... you need a cable. I sympathize somewhat... I just got an X20 and to get a floppy or extra drive bay (CD/HDD/DVD) you need to buy the Ultrabase (mini-docking station). The Ultrabase on the X20 defeats the purpose of the machine. It's designed to be portable, and the addition of the Ultrabase makes it too bulky. Also, you can't connect the floppy via a cable. It's built into the UBase. Only 1 PCMCIA slot too. All this suggests using USB for almost everything, which in turn means it's really meant for a plug-and-play-centric OS. Hence the shiny 2000/98 sticker emblazoned on the front.

Re:Not another one

[SanLouBlues]

Recent computers have been changing this. Emachines, Compaq, even TigerDirect has a case with accessible USB and game ports. Besides, there are extension cables and hubs which can allow easier access.

(Pro)vision

[stigmatic]

If IBM is indeed releasing this, than its bound to be propietary meaning no one else will probably support it. So if you use it on an IBM Thinkpad, that doesn't mean you'll be able to swap it with any other PC that doesn't support it. So do you want to get lured into an all IBM based solution?

Some things to think about when claiming or even thinking it will become a standard, remember those 120mb SuperDisks the vendor claimed would replace the floppy? Guess what they didn't since it doesn't conform to the cementary like standards everyone has pretty much settled on.

What would be nice, is if they made a kind of SecureID based key for maximum security which would be supported by all including those without the overhyped USB.

killall -9 mytwocents

Re:(Pro)vision

[rainwalker]

i bet you didn't follow the links above and read the product description, which clearly states that it will be compatible with any computer equipped with USB....bear in mind the U is for universal (as noted above)

This is nothing new

[FrenZon]

These things have been around for months now. Check the thumbdrive
Glen Murphy

SAY WHHAATTT

[comet69]

I think thesee little drives aree really cool. Great idea. Just pop it in to your USB port and your off! But in my opinion there is a few problems. Such as not enough storage. OOO 16, 32 and 64MB !!!!! Not cool at all. I want something thats atleast above 100mb. At lastly, why the hell is something that small, and butt-looking, so dag nabbed expensive????? I would pay 10 buck for something like that and no more. I mean damn, zip disks are cheap as shit and they aree probably faster and they hold more space. Faster, if your using an IDE drive that is. But anyway. Lower down the price a lot, and offer more storage above 100mb, then I think you got yourself a pretty neat product. Peace...

If it's IBM, it'll be Linux

[lowe0]

It seems to be their bet-the-farm strategy. Betcha that it ships with a Linux driver, if everything's squared away on the USB end (I wouldn't know - not a Linux user).

And if everything isn't squared away, expect some IBM assistance in that area...

now only if these things worked on Macs

[objekt]

that would be cool since I use a mac most of the time

Re:Hrmmm...

[comet69]

heeheeheheehEHEHHAhahAH! awesome :-)

Too Expensive

[brandonj]

I would rather spend $.30 on a few unreliable floppies to transfer data than pay $69 for a 16MB mmemory card. Let's hope IBM's way is cheaper
-Brandon

They steal Apple's colors...

[jaysones]

but no Mac-compatibility. Apple did a lot for both USB and style. This device exemplifies both of those, but no Mac support. Pshaw...

Re:Perfect for...

[beerygaz]

Both Aladdin and Rainbow make USB tokens with crypto engines on them for storing private keys and performing crypto functions (key never leaves the device). They come in 8/16k versions (more than enough for a few key pairs) and use the Datakey CSP. It's just like a smartcard but uses the USB port as the reader.

usb key for mac????

[objekt]

Or any mini usb storage for Mac? I'd like to know

connectors

[daniel2000]

are the usb connectors upto taking a zillion insertions - i know they are designed to be hot swapable etc etc but that is different to being designed to being used for repeated insertions. We have to pay a lot if we want a connector that can be used with a high number of intertions for our embedded designs.

Re:connectors

[beerygaz]

The USB spec specifies that a device must support up to 1500 insertions. Not many when you think about devices like these keys. The device manufacturers state that their keys will last far longer, but will your USB port? You'd need a USB hub or an extension cable (better than crawling under your PC every day anyway).

but i want a mini USB drive

[objekt]

know of one that works with a Mac?

Re:www.unnecessarytoys.com

[wuice]

Unlike floppies, which never lose data? A typical cd lasts a lot longer than a typical floppy, in my experience. As for the random writes, yeah.. can't do much about that.. but CDs are so cheap that it hardly seems to be much of an issue

Re:You sir,

[you, sir]

you, sir, are a bozo

Re:But will it boot off one?

[unitron]

So the only way to euthanize the floppy is to euthanize the whole x86/IBM-PC platform? Maybe that's a not so disguised blessing.

As much as I hate to not be able to upgrade one piece at a time, hate to see stuff that still works (or that can be repaired) wind up in landfills, and grudgingly admire the way they've been able to keep kludging or grafting new stuff onto a 20+ year old design, maybe it's time to quit trying to come up with rocket boosters for an open cockpit bi-plane and start from scratch, rethinking everything, power supply, processor, bios, OS, storage, security, both physical and electronic, display(s), case and form factor, expansion methods, maybe even something instead of the WWW that doesn't require having to use 2 or more browsers because of incompatibilities, something that'll combine and replace your cable box, VCR, TIVO, Playstation, stereo, TV, home security system, thermostat, and computer in one modularly configureable system with *real* plug and play.

If the hidden forum thing still works, I'd be interested in reading what other Slashdotters think about what this new platform should have, do, etc. at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=no_legacy

Re:The Key Analogy is for Real

[boysimple]

actually, from the picture it appears that the 8mb bit detaches from your keyring. Only the sheath remains attached. No worries about having to go keyless while using it, or the pressure that a full set of keys would put on your USB port.

You sir,

[Wah]

with your "floppy", yet hard duality, have been deprecated.
--

Re:Bleh...

[objekt]

I've never lost a floppy, zip, or CD by leaving it a drive. I wouldn't lose one of these either.

Re:Here is a link

[Lamont]

Get the Agate one instead....$69 for 16mb,$129 for 32 MB.

Re:Disk-on-Key

[Wolfstar]

There's only one teensy-weensy problem with this.

Sure, there's a Linux driver and all that jazz, and it works fairly well, etc. etc., but M Systems has a reputation in the Embedded Linux community for wanting you to sign your soul over before being able to use their stuff. The license is HIGHLY proprietary on their Disk-On-Chip product, and I'm sure that something similar will hold true for their other products.

If you aren't a zealot when it comes to licensing, then you've got a pretty decent USB storage device here. If you're a stickler for non-proprietary systems, then avoid it like the plague. The Linux Router Project and the LEAF Project have been looking for a way to incorporate something larger than the floppy for embedded firewall/router boxes, and M Systems' stuff was looked at and discarded due to the licensing issue.

Stuff to be aware of. Why not get yourself a cheap IDE-based Compact-Flash card reader if you need the space? They've got them for around $20 plus flash, and with flash being used in digital cameras, you can get some pretty decent-sized ones for cheap.

Re:But will it boot off one?

[pnatural]

i can confirm that the usb floppy that came with my sony z505r is indeed bootable. that's how i started the install of FreeBSD.

How reliable will it be?

[one-egg]

My first thought is that there had better be protection for the connector, or it's going to get awfully filthy in my lint-laden pocket.

The second thought is to wonder whether USB sockets are designed to take the tens of thousands of insertion cycles such an idea is likely to produce.

...and my third thought has already been suggested by a number of previous posters!

Disk-on-Key

[fiori]

Disk on Key from M-Systems has up to 32 Mb 'keys' now and plans up to a 512 Mb USB device this year. They claim to work with Win, Mac, and Linux.

Re:Disk-on-Key

[frknfrk]

of course, if you click on the where to buy at the disk on key site, you get directed to this product at ibm.com... so if this really does work with win/mac/linux, and this is the same product, everyone can stop whining about 'no linux support'. the website says clearly 'linux 2.4 supported'. -sam

Re:Disk-on-Key

[Korth]

"M-Systems recently released a new TrueFFS driver for DiskOnChip that includes support for Linux kernel 2.4.X. The new driver can be used as an integral part of the Linux kernel or as a General Public License (GPL)-compliant loadable module. The loadable module approach enables commercial distribution of Linux-based systems using DiskOnChip and M-Systems TrueFFS drivers, while complying with Linux's GPL terms and conditions.

The new driver includes source files of the driver layer that enable developers with custom Linux kernels to modify the DiskOnChip driver layer to work with their unique version of Linux and maintain GPL terms. Using this driver as a loadable module also enables faster integration of DiskOnChip within Linux-based systems thus allowing faster time to market."

Source: M-System's press release

Re:The Key Analogy is for Real

[chicagothad]

This is like Sony's Key Ring USB Music Time Stamp 'The Emarker'.

Re:Excellent!

[Nohea]

Sounds cool.

But of course it will need drivers for non-MS OSs.

From the IBM web store link elsewhere on this page:

No Drivers Needed-- when used with Windows 2000 or Windows ME--Work with today's popular operating systems

We have to find out if there are any USB-flash memory drivers already that can be used or adapted.

Re:No Floppy

[MatriXOracle]

. And how do you transfer files from one computer to another?

Uhh....you take the key out of one computer's USB port, and insert it into anoter computer's USB port. Presto.

Re:Let me get this straight

[rainwalker]

uh...you didn't follow the link to IBM's product catalogue above, did you? i know it's a stretch, expecting highly opinionated slashdotters to actually follow links, but hey...

woohoo!

[2MuchC0ffeeMan]

it doesn't need batteries either!

Re:Not another one

[TVmisGuided]

This could do wonders for the sales of USB hubs...especially in educational institutions, where the back of the brainbox is almost always inaccessible.

Just my two cents' worth...donate the change to your company coffee fund.

Bleh...

[BrK]

This thing seems cool at first, but I think it's overrated. It won't erplace a floppy because it's not bootable, and it's not cheap enough to lose/loan/leave. 8MB isn't really all that much, but you can get ones up to 64MB (of course they'll set you back $200). They don't seem to be supported in linux yet, and the device isn't really _that_ small. My keyring already has too much crap, RF keytag for the house, Remote for the truck, ibutton, and keys.

If you actually put it on your keyring, you have to leave your keys hanging out of the computer. Bad Idea. If you don't put it on your keyring, you'll likely lose it, or someone will "liberate" the unit from your PC/laptop when you're not looking.

Personally, I'm often on a corporate LAN. If I want 8MB of removable media, I'll just ftp it to my webserver where I can access from anywhere.

Re:Bleh...

[BrK]

Could be... My bet says that it's a Solution looking for a Problem for most instances. The form factor is too bulky, IMO. You couldn't carry 4 or 5 of these things without looking like you had a pocket full of marbles :) Also, because of the way people think of USB, they're going to want to use several of these at once. One will have a PGP key, another will be for MP3s and another for doco, work files, etc. But it will be hard to have them all plugged in at once, you'll need more external equipment (USB hubs, etc) that will soon negate any savings or flexibility the product offers. At the very least, they should have ones that are stackable, so you could have this big cluster of USB "Keys" with all your crypto keys, doco, music, pr0n, etc on one USB port :)

Re:Bleh...

[purple_rider]

You made a good point. But I think they will make it bigger, better. and broader. As for the jackasses that leave them in their computers, oh well. They'll figure it out sooner or later. Until then, I'm the one driving the VP's Porsche.

[LS-120 USB] Re:SmartCard substitute?

[gfecyk]

If you really needed to read regular floppies and maybe need more than 8 MB, the comparably stable LS-120 drives handle that easily.

Q Drivers

[CrazyBob]

I ordered the 16mb version about a week and a half ago. It hasn't come yet.

So far as I know, there are no Linux or Macintosh drivers as of yet. I actually read about the predecessor to the q, the Thumb Drive in Mac Addict. The article stated that the Q would be coming out and would support platforms other than Windows. I guess I'll see if they kept to their promise.

You do have to admit that, given it's a 100%plug 'n' play device, it makes for one hell of a way to keep a multi platform root kit in your pocket at all times.

USB Seciruty was Re:No drivers

[mitheral]

A little epoxy will fix this risk in a rather permanent way

Re:Major Disadvantages

[xerx]

Actually 512 Meg versions already exist and a 1 gig version is soon to be released.

See http://www.thumbdrive.com/

LS-120 superdisks

[mrsam]

LS-120 "superdisk" IS NOT a proprietary format. LS-120 is an open format. I have right here an LS-120 drive made by Matsushita, reading Imation 100mb disks.

The nice thing about LS-120 drives is that they are 100% backwards compatible with 3.5" 1.44MB floppies, and in fact they'll read and write to them between 5-10 times faster (depending on the drive) than the legacy floppy drive. And pretty much all motherboards made in the last two years will boot off LS-120 drives just like legacy floppy drives (you'll have to know how to twiddle the BIOS settings right, though).

---

oh the possibilities

[frknfrk]

talk about a smart card. put your PGP sig on it and use it to sign checks, etc.
how about it IS your car key, you and your spouse have 'em and your car sets all kinds of info for you, radio stations, etc.
keep a 'theme song' in mp3 on your keychain. that's my theme music.
this on one device i'm going to have to try. the wife and i both have USB laptops now and USB is everywhere enough that such a 'key' would be cool. i'd love to see it in, say, 32 MB or so. then little USB+LCD+HeadphoneJack devices which play MP3s would be easy.
anyway...

Perfect for...

[intmainvoid]

A keyring would be perfect for storing my private key!

comdex

[mtstump]

a company (i dont remember who) had these at comdex they are comming out with a 64 meg version

Re:Guess what?!

[Pope Slackman]

It was pretty cool, but with only 200k, I don't know how secure it could have been. It did have one plus on this USB model: by not actually "plugging in" to the module (just press it briefly in a little socket) it avoided any wear-and-tear on the plug. Unfortunately, as it was lightweight metal, it bounced against my other keys and got lots of little dents. Dunno if it made it not work; I didn't go back often.

I doubt it was even 200k, it was prolly more like 4k...iButtons are mostly intended to provide a unique ID (each one has a hardcoded serial number), and a little space to store a key, and possibly some other data...All the other information is stored on a workstation or server - the iButton just proves to the system that you really are you.

As for durability, Dallas Semi says they last around 10 years.

--K

Re:We have one.

[kwerle]

Virtually all computers can boot from the network.

Except for PC's.

OK, so some of them can - if you have the right network card, right BIOS, etc, etc. Mac's can, SUN's can, etc, etc...

PC's just suck ('course, I'm using one now...)

The possibilities!

[Tsar cr0bar]

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these?

Why limit yourself?

[TheSHAD0W]

Get a gigabyte microdisk. I'd love to see a USB CompactFlash adapter that you could throw a microdrive into and stick in your pocket.

Re:Emergency Pr0n supply.

[>:^D]

...more powerful Otto Preminger... Ah, but can you find Bunny Lake?

Re:Here is a link

[lient]

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and ... disagree with you there.

Re:No Floppy

[purple_rider]

Only buy IBM.

Re:No Floppy

[MrBlack]

what do you mean, how do you transfer files from one computer to another? ? You stick it in computer A, copy the file from computer A to your key, take your key from computer A to computer B, stick your key in computer B, and copy from the key to computer B. How fscking hard is that? How is this more difficult than copying a file using a floppy disk?

Not quite there yet

[imadork]

This won't nearly be as useful as we all think until more computers ship with USB Keyboards - I'd rather plug one of these into my keyboard than into the back of my box.

But just think -- You might be able to put your future software license "keys" on an actual keychain!

www.unnecessarytoys.com

[SubtleNuance]

Its really sad that the hardware industry cant get together long enough to build a successor to the venerable 3.5" 1.44MB floppy. Many have tried: Zip, Jazz, Sony SuperDisk but none will succeed as long as bean-counter types prevent the IP from being a non-licensed public technology.

Here we are raving about a USB flash memory unit -while i agree it is cool tech- doesnt anyone else see it as a little bit silly for us to have to take advantage of the ubiquity of USB in order to get portable media w/ >1.44MB storage?

Why cant we simply get a cheap replacement to the floppy?

Re:www.unnecessarytoys.com

[Sloppy]

The floppy replacement is called CDR.

---

Re:www.unnecessarytoys.com

[mojo-raisin]

Except that CDs are not at all convenient. They get scratched once in the wrong place - you lose data. They're phsically too big. And you can't do random writes to them.

Re:www.unnecessarytoys.com

[jandrese]

Zip was poised to overtake floppies with nearly every OEM providing it for default in many models and a large groundswell of support when IOmega got greedy and basically killed them off. First, the media costs were never reduced down to the levels that people could consider "disposable" like floppies, in fact I think IOmega still charges ~$10 for a single 100MB disk, although I havn't priced them in a while since the media is basically dead. Second, the rapid expansion of the internet and local area networks greatly reduced the need for "sneakernet". Lastly, IOmega seemed to be working as hard as possible at times to garner as much ill will as possible from their users by handling the exceptionally fatal "click of death" problem so poorly.

Of all of these points, I think I should point out that #2 (the internet) is probabaly the most potent. People just don't need to shuffle files around by hand anymore for the most part, so the demand for removable storage has really dropped considerably. In fact, only compact flash type devices and large optical media seem to be going anywhere anymore in the removable storage category.

Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.

Re:www.unnecessarytoys.com

[JohnnyKnoxville]

Them floppies are like the cassette tape. The just won't die. Too many people have 'em. Even if a new standard that is the modern equivalent of a floppy is introduced, it'll take years to phase them out. For once I think Mac is actually doing something intelligent by no longer including them in their systems.

Emergency Pr0n supply.

[the_tsi]

In case of emergency, break glass.

-Chris
...More Powerful than Otto Preminger...

ah crap!

[blowhole]

but what happens when you accidentally lock your keys in your chassis?

Been around a while...

[DivideByZero]

I saw something similar at Office Max last year, called a Thumbdrive - Their webpage says that it's Lose98-only, though they mentioned a Linux version a while back.

Same as ThumbDrive and iKey1000/2000

[SmilieZ]

There are already USB "thumb drives" that have
8M and up Flash ram on them.. Nothing new here.

However, what IS interesting, is the iKey 1000/2000 from Rainbow Technology.

The 1000 has about 8 k of ram, and actually has some Crypto functions on the key!! So you can do proper hidden key authentication. Also can contain certs.

I have been reverse engineering this device a bit for Linux, and have some preliminary code to drive it, however am talking with Rainbow about getting proper specs and/or GPL'ed SDK code..

The ikey 2000 has full PKI on it, so it can actually be used to generate full Public/Private key pairs, were you NEVER see the private key.. (And can't get at it at all).

Ill be working on this one for Linux once I have finished the 1000.

Anrhony

Um...IBM is late.

[glowingspleen]

IBM is a tad late on this one. I've seen this in catalogs since at least Xmas...

Check out the Thumb Drive
http://www.thumbdrive.com/

Re:Let me get this straight

[UU7]

Okay, some dude reads slashdot, finds a story and quickly posts a response. Yes, had the dude read it carefully he would have found the actual catalog link and links to similar devices. wtf?

Great, if you own a ThinkPad...

[Ambiguous Coward]

Did anyone read the hardware prerequisites? ThinkPad this, ThinkPad that...you have to own a ThinkPad. That, and they say it works without driver support...provided you're running Windows 2000 or Windows ME. So, I wouldn't go around praising (or criticizing) it as yet another media format...instead, call it what it is: yet another specific toy for yet another specific piece of hardware. The two aren't independant: I can't take that key and plug it in to just *any* computer that has USB, it has to be one of the listed ThinkPads running one of the listed operating systems. What if I wanna plug it into my Mac? Or, for you types, my Linux box? What gives?

Re:Great, if you own a ThinkPad...

[mfkap]

If you read the line above it, it states "USB Support-- For easy installation and setup. Works on all systems with an enabled USB port."

I read this as meaning it works on all systems. They are just selling it on an IBM hardware website, and chances are they don't have an option when they post it of saying that an accessory is for non-IBM machines. Sorta a whole marketing thing. My guess is that it does, in fact, work on all systems with PnP USB support.

Mike

I had read in Popular Sci...

[aztektum]

That a company was making a mini disc like device that stored a gig or so (close to any way) using technology similar to DVD. They were suppose to be releasing it this March, but I haven't heard anything since? Does anyone know what's up with this? The discs were about the size of a half-dollar and at the time I thought would be a cool replacement for floppy because the write time is no where near what it takes to write a CDR (and for documents and such that are small in size anyway, it still doesn't take long on a cdr) I can't find the issue of Pop Sci or remember any names, but I'm curious if anyone knows if there are groups still working on media like this?


aztek: the ultimate man

Re:the Kosher Food Tax

[miruka]

How does racist progaganda relate to USB storage devices? Besides, let's be realistic, no one requires a company to make its products Kosher. So, keep your anti-semitic comments south of the Mason-Dixon line or back in ancient history where they belong.

Re:Have a look...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hard drive manufacturers measure a MB as 1000 * 1000 bytes (rather than the usual 1024 * 1024 bytes), so perhaps they mean that it stores 16 * 10^6 bytes. A "1.44MB" floppy has an unformatted capacity of 2880 sectors * 512 bytes/sector = 1474560 bytes.

If that's the case, then this Q drive is equivalent to 16 * 10^6 / 1474560 = 10.9 floppies.

Or perhaps, as you said, they just messed up. After all, they wrote "mb" which would stand for "millibits".

Just get a ZIO & (CF | MMC | SmartMedia)

[kdorff]

IMO, your best bet is to get a Zio USB media reader (sold such as Buy.com for $30) and some media for it. They sell models that read CompactFlact, MMC (very small reader), SmartMedia. The MMC reader is particularily small. This way, you can guy buy extra media if you need it in the future. Not QUITE as convenient as the keychain idea, but I think cheaper and smarter overall. When media prices come down and media gets bigger, just replace the media.

Re:We have one.

[kwerle]

I hate floppy disks - they all go bad. I guess I abuse them.

My system is now in a state where I can't boot to linux without a floppy, and this terrified me. Then I realized

dd if=/dev/fd0 of=bootfloppy.img

works just as well as the other direction when you're installing the OS :-)

thumb drives

[slinlee]

there are already thumbdrives (exactly the same as you described, except commerically avalible to 256 mb atleast) they show up as a removable drive under 'my computer'

Re:eat my memory stick

[MaxQuordlepleen]

Why? Because VHS beat Beta, and history tends to repeat itself

Yeah, and MiniDisc is another recent example. Sony likes to hold their standards a little too close to the vest ... As the not-so-proud owner of a "classic" Sony 2x CD burner, which doesn't support 80 minute CDs or overburning because "They're not in our Red Book so we aren't gonna support them, nyaah nyaah..." I can definitively state that this corporate attitude sucks.

Sony clearly makes a quality product but they are so interested in preserving their IP that they hurt their own business interests.

Rainbow's CryptoSwift

[hondo]

this looks exactly like Rainbow's Cryptokey (www.rainbow.com). They sell a crypto package that locks your data - and you need the USB key to unlock your data. Of course, the key can be reloaded and updated...

Re:Have a look...

[p3d0]

Maybe "10 times more" means 1000% more, which means is 11 times as much. (Ok, that's a stretch.)
--
Patrick Doyle

You'd Think...

[PantherX]

...that manufacturers would get on the ball letting their target audience know about these types of things. Since I read this story, I've seen multiple websites that claim to have or manufacture these simple devices, but how come nobody has ever heard of them before Slashdot? All they had to do was send you guys a heads up, right? I guess IBMs innovation is to add the key ring, which IMHO is what is going to make these babies popular... /me runs off to buy a few...

Better alternatives

[barneym]

Despite the fact that this has the practical benefit of plugging directly into a USB, there are many existing technologies which are far better suited as the portable memory of the future. One of the more prevelent and "open" technologies out there is SmartMedia which are virtually paper thin, come in sizes up to 64MB (maybe higher now), and work in a large array of cameras, printers, handhelds, and similar devices. Not only can I fit one of these things *easily* into my wallet, I have regularly carried dozens of them in my wallet and forgotten about them. There's also Sony's memory stick and the various compact flash devices, also with sizes of 64MB or greater. This device though...interesting is behind the times in both physical size and storage capacity. Much better and simpler technologies exist and I would like to see one of the existing technologies progressed to mass market. My personal favorite being SmartMedia for its unbelievably thin package and single interface standard regardless of memory capacity.

Potential Anime Plot?

[Brandonr17]

With these four rings combined you will have the power to store 32 megs. *Insert electric banjo music here*

Re:Potential Anime Plot?

[Brandonr17]

Oh i'm sorry KEYS combined. Maybe something around the area of a robot that requi.. I'm going to sleep now.

Re:Major Disadvantages

[viking_kiwi]

1. These really don't hold that much - 8 MB can't even store very large word-processing/spreadsheet documents

Um, which word processor do you use? The entire TeX source for Knuths "TeX Book" occupies about 1.3Mb.

8Mb would be enough to store all the writing and programming I do in a year, in source form anyway.

Re:We have one.

[Darren.Moffat]

All that is fine if the data isn't sensitive so that you can put it somewhere public.

Re:The new floppy

[Darren.Moffat]

For the security relevant stuff you mention you want a SmartCard see my post further up as to why.

Re:Guess what?!

[perky]

IBM license those. When I was working there all of the Java gurus at Hursley had them. Very good for evengelising to PHBs apparently.

Re:Security(Tangental)

[DivideByZero]

What's a simple way to keep one's PGP key on removable media?

CF is what I'm thinking of - I've got a TRGPro, and I'd like to keep my PGP key on it's CF card, to use on my desktop system with a SanDisk reader, but it should equally apply to this new toy.

Re:No Floppy

[Nohea]

More importantly, does the Thinkpad X20 have bios support for a USB floppy drive?

If so, forget all this key crap, just use that.
If not, do any known BIOS makers have that kind of support?

boot?

[einstein]

that's all well and good about replacing floppies...but can I boot off of it?

Re:Let me get this straight

[Alatar]

What link? There isn't one. I see, "John Brown", "More on Technology", and "Also by Timothy". No link.

The Key Analogy is for Real

[nathanh]

I've played with one of these devices which looked like a key, plugged in the USB port, and had a private encryption key on it (in addition to the storage space). The device came with Windows 2000 software that encrypted your files and you needed to insert the key and type a passcode to decrypt the files.

A company I know is experimenting with these devices to see if they can modify PAM to use the USB keys. The concept is in many ways similar to the Java ring that McNealy demonstrated in 1999, but the key shape is (I think) more convenient to store, carry, and definitely more convenient to plugin to your computer.

Four problems I noted while playing with one of these devices.

First, the model I was using was made out of cheap plastic. It felt flimsy and lightweight. I keep my key chain in my jeans pocket, and I was concerned the flimsy plastic would break (which would be an absolute disaster).

Second, when the USB key is on your keychain it is REALLY inconvenient to plug it into the USB port on a laptop. Your keys get in the way and the weight of the keys dangles down and puts huge stress on the USB key. If the USB key becomes at all popular, I can see a strong market for those little retractable cords that some people use with their ID cards.

Third, the USB key is actually quite thick. On my laptop - which has two USB ports close to each other - you couldn't use the second port while the key was plugged in. The company had thought of this and supplied a small extension cord, but this wasn't at all convenient to carry around.

Fourth, a thought experiment rather than an actual experience. When you lose your house keys you curse a lot, then you hire a locksmith to bust into your house and change your locks. If you lose your USB key then there's no recourse. If I had highly precious data, I'd be storing it all on backup tape UNENCRYPTED, or I'd be making sure there were copies of the USB key stored in multiple (safe) deposit boxes.

Re:The Key Analogy is for Real

[Darren.Moffat]

The concept is in many ways similar to the Java ring that McNealy

No it isn't anything like the Java Ring (aka iButton) which is actually much more like a SmartCard. SmarCards and iButtons have processors on them and have real security.

This thing is JUST A DISK there is NO security on it a key is the worst think this could have been called because people jump to the conclusion that it has the same purpose as a key.

As for updating PAM to use one of these it is just a disk there is NO security on it, if you do you will be throwing away any security you have. If you want this upgrade to Solaris 8 and use a real SmartCard like the JavaCard, MicroPayFlex Card or the iButton.

One more time in case you missed it This thing is JUST a Disk

Agree with Stigmatic

[purple_rider]

...totally. I'm thinking Microsoft, money to be made, sell a few more Thinkpads, etc. IBM will screw this up.

Re:No Floppy

[djocyko]

wrong. check the page. only works on ibm laptops. =(

Re:No Floppy

[djocyko]

I take that back..it only says in the hw requirements laptops, but under the description it says anything running 98 or 2k. =)

Hrmmm...

[reddeno]

So, has anyone mounted one of these in Linux yet?

# mount /dev/keychain /key
mount: /dev/keychain has too much lint.
# _

Re:Guess what?!

[Quarters]

Except that an iButton only has 200K on it and is intended to only store secure log-in information.

The USBKey is general storage for data. Just because it also fits on a keyring doesn't mean that it is anything like an iButton.

Playstation2?

[PantherX]

Think of the possibilities my fellow geeks...

*rubs hands together*

MUHAHAHAHA MUHAHAHA MUHAHAHAHA

Re:Floppy Unreliability

[ncc74656]

I pulled out my old amiga last week, the floppies where loose in a cardboard box directly under our central heating boiler and consequently had ash/grit between them. Regardless of condition these floppy disks(that were from as far back as 1995) worked perfectly.

I have even older disks than that that still work...5.25" DD floppies for my Apple IIs that go back as far as 1985 are still readable. OTOH, I've seen current 3.5" floppies go bad just if you look at them funny. :-| I don't know if I would trust data to a floppy over the long run.

Floppy RAID system

[bladeohlsson]

Would it be possible to make a Floppy RAID system? or a USB Floppy RAID. blade

Hackin' down the river...

[b1t r0t]

I used to hide floppies in a river bed (don't ask) and when I needed them I would dig them up, remove the "platter" and put them in a case with dry "pads"

Did you ever hear of this neat new invention they've come up with called "Ziploc Bags"? I think that would have saved you a lot of work.

Re:Hackin' down the river...

[Wire Tap]

=P

Actually, I did use ziplocks, and a plastic case and several garbage bags. To this day I wonder how water got inside.

I like the Q one better

[b1t r0t]

I like the Q version better because it's all one piece. The IBM one seems to have a "pen cap" to attach to your keychain, and the unit itself snaps out of that. While it will keep the USB port protected, if it falls apart and you have a hole in your pocket, the important half is the one that's going to get lost.

I'd rather have one like the Q, but with an optional cap on the connector end.

And for those of you wondering about Linux support, these things should be just like my PNY Compact Flash/Smart Media reader for USB... it emulates an IDE drive. Actually, the flash cards themselves emulate an IDE drive, and the USB part just acts as a USB to IDE interface.

Re:A USB MicroDrive would be cooler.

[dialect]

Umm.. before anyone tries that theory out. The G ratings your describing are for near-instantaneous shock levels, and are not all that difficult to generate -- especially when dropping onto hard surfaces.

Here is a link

[jjr]

Here is a link to the the USB Key at ibm it cost 49 dollars

Re:Et Tu Brutus

[Aunt Mable]

Pretty average troll there my friend, ho-hum,

Consider times when a government wants to stop its Citizens from amassing or talking to each other (South Africa - thirty years ago). A certain ammount of "anonymity" is required to maintain privacy and to maintain free speech.

"But I shouldn't be able to send an anonymous bomb threat to some student at Columbine and get away with it."

Well, OK. But should you be able to write down a bomb threat in a truck stop's bathroom? In one of the stalls? What about spray painting the side of a truck on it's way to columbine? == If you do something bad you must be caught always, you must identify yourself when you do anything in life in case you might be a danger or do damage to society.

Righto.

As for slashdot itself a login makes no difference to an anonymous coward post - just look at all the trolls with accounts. You either remove posts or moderate them. Choose +2 if you want out, or go away. This place probably isn't what you want anymore.

-- Eat your greens or I'll hit you!

Re:eat my memory stick

[mindstrm]

Freebsd supports the memory stick slot in the vaios? really?

Guess what?!

[FzyLogic]

It sounds like nothing more than an iButton with extra memory. iButton has been selling these things for a while, but with java and less memory. Check it out here.

Re:Guess what?!

[MWoody]

Oh, yeah, I used one of these iButton things (not knowing the actual product name) when I used to be a member at our local LaserQuest. The place was a laser combat thing, kinda like paintball but with a smaller arena, more game options, and no mess or welts. An almost identical arena-type laser thingy was Q-Zar, but that one sucked way more.

Anyway, we used the device to log in automatically. We'd go to the counter, pay our money, and plug it into a small metal plate for a couple of seconds. When not playing, we could plug it into a panel on the wall, and a screen would light up with past game statistics: wins/losses/hits/awards/etc.

It was pretty cool, but with only 200k, I don't know how secure it could have been. It did have one plus on this USB model: by not actually "plugging in" to the module (just press it briefly in a little socket) it avoided any wear-and-tear on the plug. Unfortunately, as it was lightweight metal, it bounced against my other keys and got lots of little dents. Dunno if it made it not work; I didn't go back often.

Just thought I'd relate my experiences and concerns about my use of a similar product.
---

Re:Guess what?!

[drinkypoo]

It sounds like nothing more than an iButton with extra memory.

First: "Extra Memory" doesn't begin to describe it. 8MB is a damn sight more than you can fit on any five iButtons.

Second: This has a USB interface; The iButton has a custom current-loop interface for which you must use drivers and their interface. Yes, they do have a USB addon now, but at the heart of this is still the same interface the iButton has always had.

Third: The iButton has features that this doesn't have; It's intended for an entirely different niche. First of all, they're small and convenient; You can mount them on keyfobs, signet rings, your belly button, whatever. Second, they're nigh-indestructible. iButtons have a stainless steel case which is fairly crush-proof, and a plastic insulating ring which is UV-resistant, as well as fuel/oil/solvent resistant. iButtons can be used in incredibly hostile environments.

Third, there are iButtons with a RTC (Real-Time Clock) whose contents can be set to expire at some specified time. That doesn't mean it erases the iButton's contents, but it won't allow you to get the data out. You can also password your data. There are also crypto iButtons, which are encrypted, and have the encrypt/decrypt engine on the iButton; Basically a little math co with some additional support circuitry. If you attempt to crack the case off an iButton to get at the die and read it with a microscope (!) the iButton is designed to kill its die (by breaking it.)

So in summary, the iButton is designed to carry a small amount of data around, perhaps in a highly secure fashion. The USB 8MB+ keyfobs are designed to carry a medium amount of data around (anything less than, say, 500MB is too little to be a large amount by today's standards, IMO) in an insecure fashion, and not require any drivers (under Win2k and WinME.)

--
ALL YOUR KARMA ARE BELONG TO US

Re:Guess what?!

[Howie]

It was pretty cool, but with only 200k, I don't know how secure it could have been.

It depends if it's storing data, or just a key. A 1638400-bit key is probably considered at least fairly secure :-) All it would do is identify you in some way to the database that really holds the data, like web sessions do.

Re:We have one.

[unitron]

Not a bad idea at all, but a month ago when my partition table evaporated I'd have been hard pressed to boot from the internet.

Re:Floppy Unreliability

[perlyking]

I pulled out my old amiga last week, the floppies where loose in a cardboard box directly under our central heating boiler and consequently had ash/grit between them. Regardless of condition these floppy disks(that were from as far back as 1995) worked perfectly.
The only time i've seen corrupt floppy disks on the PC platform is when some (L)user decides to eject the disk with the floppy light still on.

WinMe or win2000

[Beowulf_Boy]

I read the ad on IBM's site,
it said it required no drivers for WinME or 2000,
what about Linux (it won't be a hard hack) but i saw no drivers for Win95/98!

cool does it work with linux?

[Pierre]

haven't heard that in a while.....

Re:Excellent!

[smoondog]

No Drivers Needed-- when used with Windows 2000 or Windows ME--Work with today's popular operating systems

That's actually what I mean. :) Unfortunately, I work mostly with Mac and Windoze machines when I'm doing day to day stuff like this.

-Moondog

good for a portable, but...

[bert_mcdoy]

what if i want to transfer this a desktop? most usb ports are in the back, and getting back through that tangled mess of wires is not easy. maybe i'm just lazy...

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

X20

[posthums]

I have the X20 and i must says its the nicest laptop ive ever used. Ive seen a few comments above about PnP OS and win support only. I would like to say that its supported on OpenBSD. Almost everything on it works great, including the sound card :) in fact, only the lucent winmodem is unsupported at this time, and ive heard that there is a driver in the works. USB support is great as well.

Major Disadvantages

[proxima]

I simply cannot see this device taking off for a number of reasons, a few of which have already been mentioned.

1. These really don't hold that much - 8 MB can't even store very large word-processing/spreadsheet documents let alone presentations/databases/mp3s (can't forget them)

2.USB is not completely popular yet, or at least not completely supported. Many computers are still in use that don't have a USB port, or that don't have them installed.

3. USB ports are most frequently in the back of a computer, making these little things very hard to use - my primary desktop is in a cabinet with minimal access to the back (but it's easy to pull out for hardware changes..I just don't need to mess with my cables often). This reminds me of A/V in ports on TVs and VCRs - too often they're annoyingly in the back.

4. Way too expensive. These should be $10, not $50, so students would want to buy them over a $0.50 floppy disk.

5. As others have pointed out, if put on a keychain one would have to leave their keys in the USB port in order to access it - dumb..if it was removable (without removing keyring, like a button trigger), then there's the ever present danger of losing such a small device.

Just my thoughts, but hey, I could be wrong. Watch me buy one in the next few years in spite of myself.

Re:Major Disadvantages

[FlexAgain]

1. These really don't hold that much - 8 MB can't even store very large word-processing/spreadsheet documents let alone presentations/databases/mp3s (can't forget them)

It all depends on what you want to store on it, yes storing your complete working environment on it (as has been suggested in the past for some new storage medium) is probably unworkable, but storing temporary files, or sensitive data (like crypto keys and password) could be quite usable. And remember 8M is not so little, many PDAs get by with a lot less, iirc the various Palm species and clones top out at 8M.

If this sort of device becomes popular, then larger version will appear, indeed the URL given by someone else details devices with 64M of storage.

2.USB is not completely popular yet, or at least not completely supported. Many computers are still in use that don't have a USB port, or that don't have them installed.

True, but it is a start. The only reasonable alternatives would be parallel or serial ports, and frankly there are too many weird things hanging off of those already (dongles, Zip drives, scanners, and even occasionally printers). USB is reasonably fast, becoming more ubiquitous and supporting is getting better with time.

3.USB ports are most frequently in the back of a computer, making these little things very hard to use - my primary desktop is in a cabinet with minimal access to the back (but it's easy to pull out for hardware changes..I just don't need to mess with my cables often). This reminds me of A/V in ports on TVs and VCRs - too often they're annoyingly in the back.

Popularity could changes that, my TV has S-Video and Phone A/V connectors on the front (under a small cover) for easy access with video games and cameras. The same could happen with USB if necessary. With laptops this is not even a problem.

4. Way too expensive. These should be $10, not $50, so students would want to buy them over a $0.50 floppy disk.

As with any technology, popularity may bring it down.

5. As others have pointed out, if put on a keychain one would have to leave their keys in the USB port in order to access it - dumb..if it was removable (without removing keyring, like a button trigger)

The IBM version seems to allow the key to be removed from the keyring.

then there's the ever present danger of losing such a small device.

You can't have it both ways, its small and convenient, so there is always going to be a risk of losing it.

Just my thoughts, but hey, I could be wrong. Watch me buy one in the next few years in spite of myself.

I'm tempted myself, and I can't think of a good reason why I need one! (Aside from a new toy :-)

--
--

READ THREAD THEN COMMENT

[stigmatic]

I bet you didn't read the part where I stated "they should make it for those without the overhyped USB".

Now lets look at the majority of PC's and laptops already on the market and do a comparison of those with USB and those without and you will see where I'm coming from, if you took two seconds to actually do some reading yourself there tough guy.

The only question I have is this...

[Mike the Mac Geek]

Well, two actually.

One, will it work on a Non-IBM made machine? It lists a bunch of Thinkpad Models, but until someone tests it ohterwise, people will stay away.

Two, will it work on a Mac? This would be perfect to go along with my iBook. I may even get one of the thumbdrives, keep my System folder on it, and boot from my keychain everytime. Very cool.

Re:The only question I have is this...

[BiOFH]

I'll let you know in a couple of days. I just ordered one 2nd day air. I plan to test it on: my G4, my Thinkpad(Linux) , my generic x86 BeOS box , an IBM M-Pro (one running NT, one running RedHat) and anything else around here that has a USB port. (so far the cats and the fridge do not appear to have 'em... but I ain't done looking).
TheBitch

Re:The only question I have is this...

[BiOFH]

OK, scratch that. They've informed me that there will be a 2 week delay... aparently this part is "very popular"...

Dataplay?

[rdarden]

I recently saw a few references to DataPlay's storage product. "Up to" 500MB on a small recordable disk. This could be incredibly handy for any number of devices. They're partnering with a number of companies - I just hope it catches on. http://www.dataplay.com/

Re:Dataplay?

[mebob]

I hope so too. I guess there is no hope for Iomega's Clik/PocketZip since they are only 40MB...

We have one.

[oGMo]

Except it's not removeable media. It's much more reliable than magnetic media, and pretty ubiquitous these days.

It's called (and I'm serious here) the Internet. Even if you have a slow connection (slow being your typical 56k modem) it's really worth it. It's easy to get ftp or http space these days on 24/7 servers with high bandwidth, even if it's 10-20M, it's enough that:

• Everyone's got access to it
• Many people with varying hardware can access it
• Multiple people can simultaneously access it
• If they've got decent bandwidth, it's much faster than a floppy

For instance, every month I create documents locally that are printed and copied at Kinko's or similar facilities (word of warning: avoid Kinko's. Their service sucks, and they've screwed us over more times than I can remember). Instead of taking a Zip disk, or 3.5", I just upload the Postscript over my pathetic 33.6 to public webspace, and grab it again with Netscape at the printer's. No worrying about whether they support this media format. No worrying about corrupt disks (which is the reason I don't use portable magnetic media anymore).

The two main concerns I can see are that the server may go down, or the location you're heading to might not have internet access. The former is fairly easy to eliminate (find multiple servers, or get something more reliable). The latter is becoming less and less of an issue, and already may be less of an issue for you than finding a box with a 3.5" floppy or Zip/Jazz/SuperDisk/etc.

The real danger is that we get stuck in a rut of thinking portable non-archival media (i.e. not CDROMs, etc.) is necessary for every day life, when other solutions (such as using the network) are already there. You're right: we don't need unnecessary toys. The solution is already in place, people just need to use it.

Re:We have one.

[drinkypoo]

Not a bad idea at all, but a month ago when my partition table evaporated I'd have been hard pressed to boot from the internet.

Yes, but you could boot from the network if you had a decent NIC.

You might need a boot rom to actually get it to come up and do a bootp request, but then you can actually get your card to download a boot image and come up with some sort of OS; Maybe dos with a novell client talking to a linux box, which would then install windows via the 'net.

Or, you could just use a bootable CD-ROM, like most of us do. Floppies suck.

If you're really tied to the idea of a boot floppy, go with LS-120. You can get double speed LS-120 drives these days, which are insanely faster than a normal floppy drive when dealing with normal floppies, and can also use LS-120 drives as drive A; You could make a Win98 boot disk (complete with cd-rom drivers) AND put, say, the Win95 install files (or perhaps the Win98 files, sans the ISP CABs) on it with them. LS-120 is tolerably speedy and has a convenient form factor, as it's the same size as a normal floppy.

--
ALL YOUR KARMA ARE BELONG TO US

Re:We have one.

[unitron]

If you don't have a network (it was my main home machine) you can't boot from it no matter what kind of NIC you have. (Well, okay, I'm messing around with peer-to-peer a little bit, but I don't think that's what you meant by network) My internet is dial-up right now and I don't have a speed dial setting in my bios.

It's not that I *like* being dependant on floppies, but when it comes to the PC platform they're pretty much the common meeting ground.

Re:We have one.

[mojo-raisin]

Which is why we need a tcp/ip stack built into the bios. Then you *could* boot off the internet. How cool would that be?

Doesn't sun build something like this into their computers?

Re:We have one.

[Bake]

Well my PC can! It's an IBM ThinkPad. I was toying around in the BIOS a few weeks ago and noticed "intel something something" listed as a boot option, then all of a sudden all I see is my built-in NIC looking for a server to boot of :)

Can I Partition it?

[bacchus612]

What filesystem is on this thing? Can I break it into 2 4mb partitions? It would be pretty sweet to be able to carry all my pgp keys in one (ext2) partition and a few win progs that make life easier on the road at the homes of computer semi-literates.

Re:Can I Partition it?

[bacchus612]

That is the very reason that I would like to keep two (or more) partitions. I've personally never seen a win9x machine that would be capable of autodetecting an ext2 (or ReiserFS ...etc) and then mirror it in a background process. This would be particularly true on a system that did not even have a copy of pkzip or FIPS installed, which would be the case when the emergency software would be used.

Would be much cooler as storage for palmtops

[Whino]

I mean, 8 megs on a regular computer is hardly anything, but if you could plug this into a handheld you'd double the capacity. Perhaps when bluetooth is standard, they'll come out with a keychain bluetooth storage unit - it could even be totally sealed (well, until you had to change the battery) to protect against accidental washing!

Just get

[BlackHat]

a 64mb CF cart and a 0.25$ rubber coin bag. [/;-) Ya can even boot Linux off it.

Regarding the Qkey multi-OS drivers

[illegalien]

I spoke with a Agate (http://www.eiware.com) rep today about the Mac and Linux drivers for the Q-Key. I was told that drivers for both Mac and Linux would be available in March... after the Mac OS X is released. The reason Linux users have to wait is because, according to Agate, the Mac OS X and Linux 2.4 Kernel are realated closely enough to release both drivers at the same time???

So I'm assuming that the only Mac OS they plan on supporting is OS X and the only Linux Kernel to be supported is 2.4.x. Oh well, better than only working on M$ Platforms

Have a look...

[dchant]

It's been out for a while actually....

http://www.agatetech.com/products_q.html

Re:Have a look...

[MURL]

Did anyone notice the marketing genius on the agate web site?

"The 16mb USB Q "hard drive" stores up to 10 times more information than the standard 3.5" floppy disk. "

Last I checked 1.44MB * 10 = 14.4MB which is somewhat less than 16MB. Maybe they should have said more than 10 times?

No drivers

[jawtheshark]

No drivers? Now even if it is true, it worries me a bit: I work at a bank and they make very sure that no "huge amount" of data is going to the exterior. Floppy drives are disabled, on some stations even the CD's are disabled (don't dare to install anything, except with written permission of your superiors) Oh, and mail/internet is tightly watched.

Up until now there was no real danger in, for example, connecting a parallel Zip to one of the machines since you need to install the drivers. Which is near to impossible without Admin rights and floppy/CD access.

Now consider this kind of storage becomes popular: system/security admins of banks will have another headache. New PC's come with USB ports, if you want it or not, and removing them would void warranty (I'n not even sure if it is possible). For the moment at this bank they are still running NT4, but what happens when they upgrade to W2K? Good luck prohibiting data exchange then... Those (OS internal) drivers better be have a posibility to be disabled.

However...

[Anonymous Coward]

I doubt that the "keys" will have the same satisfying sting as AOL cd's during a disc fight.

Re: I'd prefer those Java-Rings.

[Karoshi]

It's somewhat easier to push a ring on my finger on my screen then fiddling that bunch of keys out of my pocket. http://java.sun.com/features/1998/03/rings.html

Only if it's cheap...

[psyclone]

I personally refuse to use floppys now (entirely too unreliable) and this seems like a great idea for students that don't have/use net access to transfer files between home and school.

It'd also be nice to have a small battery and an IR feature for PDAs.

Nice that USB defines a "Storage device"

[pacc]

Then linux won't have any trouble to get it to work.
What puzzles me is how Windows '95 can get a bluescreen when I plug in an USB mouse..

A USB MicroDrive would be cooler.

[jcr]

The IBM MicroDrive is up to 1 GByte these days, and did you ever take a look at its shock rating? 15 HUNDRED G's (non operating) and 175 G's operating.

I occasionally drop my car keys, but I've never done anything to them that could damage a MicroDrive. I can't *throw* one of these things hard enough to break it.

-jcr

Not another one

[hansendc]

My first reaction to this is: Oh no, not another portable storage medium! We already have SmartMedia, CompactFlash, and Memory Stick.

But, this gets the distinction of being independent from all of those, if a computer has a USB port and the right software, it can read it! The only bad part is that the USB port on 95% of the computers I have seen is hidden away, not accessible like a floppy.

But will it boot off one?

[riedquat]

I think the 3.5" floppy is well due for replacement but I seem to have to resort to them quite often when the OS gets corrupted and can't boot into a state where it can recognise CD-ROM, Zip or network drives.
In my experience, it's the only thing on an x86-based PC which is guaranteed to work at any time on any machine, which I think is probably the only thing keeping it alive.
Otherwise, it's a fantastic idea.

Re:But will it boot off one?

[SEWilco]

It's a matter of what the BIOS is able to boot from. PC-104 systems often have various bootable flash devices, and there are IDE-compatible flash cards that I've booted from. Haven't seen a bootable USB yet...although it would be nice.

Re:But will it boot off one?

[AstynaxX]

Just and FYI, a lot of newer BIOS's [I know mine] can recognize and boot from a variety of devices, so long as they are ATAPI [my CD-ROM and my ZIP 100 are both boot options]

-={(Astynax)}=-

This is more useful for security

[GauteL]

Simply for porting data, we have the Internet, and 8MB really isn't that much more than 1.44MB.
In addition it's more expensive.

Imagine however it being used as a key to control a laptop. The laptop not functioning AT ALL without it. It could store a pretty long key.
If you lost the key, you would just buy a new one, and download your key from your main computer into the the USB-module.
Simple, easy securing of Laptops.

Not perfect, but probably good enough.

ARE U NUTS?!

[Vanguard(DC)]

ok, to compare this thing to a floppy key is like comparing a honda civic to a porsche...

ANYONE NOTICE THE DAMN COST?! wow. gee. 8 or 16 whole MB's for 50 to 70 dollars!?? compared to 12 cents per floppy??! hmm... ill carry 5 or 10 floppies in a 2 dollar case in my briefcase... you can have your key-ring toy... hmmph.

-vanguard

For every problem solved, a new one is created

[brad3378]

Soon we'll all be bitchin' about forgeting our keys in our computers.

Floppy Unreliability

[Kalper]

A little offtopic, but has anyone seen (or done) a formal or informal study on the reliability of floppy disks? I swear they didn't used to be nearly as bad as they are now -- It seems like 1 in 10 go bad on me within 6 months, where I used to have scores of them last me for years...

Re:Et Tu Brutus

[CokeBear]

I'll take the bait.
Its called free speech.
The best way to ensure that we hear everything that anyone might want to say that will benefit someone in some way, is to put up with a whole lot of that crap. Thats why we have moderation. If you don't like it, read at +1 or +2, whatever floats your boat. (Unless you're moderating, in which case you should be reading at -1)

Other sources, similar devices

[Booker]

thumbdrive

usbdrive.com

Q-drive

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These types of devices have been around a while.

[DRACO-]

I have seen 3 different versions in tigerdirect.com's catalog they send every month. One is called thumbdrive, the other 2 i cant quite remember the name to em. But they are available in capcities up to 256mb.

BTW, you can get usb extention cables, or you can make them from parts.

If I ever get a PDA with a usb port, I will most likely look into getting one of these things to store files on. Probably use it as a web page cache to be viewed with the PDA. Would come in quite useful if the 2 devices would interact prefectly.

I prefer 128 MB instead.

[Xiver]

Here is one that hold up to 128 MB.

Re:I prefer 128 (64) MB instead.

[Xiver]

Here is a better description of it.

Locked out

[JohnnyKnoxville]

"hey dude, it's me... yeah, I'm locked out of my house... I think I left my keys sticking out of the back of your computer." :)

IBM/DiskOnKey

[Blaine Phelps]

Regarding IBM's New USBKey Device, an incorrect link to the product was provided. The correct link to DiskOnKey, the portable USB storage device offered by IBM, is http://www.diskonkey.com or please email: info@m-sys.com --Blaine Phelps, DiskOnKey Promotion Manager

Excellent!

[smoondog]

This sounds awesome! No drivers, works on any machine with a USB, small, etc.. This is what we have always wanted in a storage medium. Just plug it in and move on with your life. I hope this story pulls to be true....

Thumb Drive

[MattHawk]

Another such drive is in existance at http://www.x86systems.com/thumbdrive.htm. The page shows up to 128mb drives, though I've seen this particular kind sild with up to 256mb. Another nice feature of these is that for just a little more cash, you can get a secure version that needs a password to get access to.

No big (heh) deal

[shandrew]

IBM can fit a 1 GB drive into a compact flash card, which can be easily plugged into USB using a reader, and can even more easily be put into a PCMCIA slot using a simple adapter for size and wiring. There are also some (the Lexar ones) compact flash cards that come with cables to hook up directly to a USB port; the reader circuitry is built into the card. As far as i can tell, there is nothing technologically interesting in this "keyring".

USB storage is also far from a "universally accepted data medium". How many computers do you know that will boot off of a USB drive (Don't count Macs. They make everything too easy :). What percentage of Linux users even have USB support running? NT users? Personally, if i needed this sort of storage, i'd go for the PC card route to avoid yet another dongle waiting to break off from the back of my computer.

Re:No Floppy

[blane.bramble]

Yes, IBM manufacture both a slimline USB floppy and USB cdrom drive for the X20 (neither requires an external PSU). Don't know if you can boot off either though.

I ordered one earlier this afternoon!

[General_Corto]

Trust me to jump on the bandwagon before it's even started rolling :)

IBM has actually been advertising this device on their website for a couple of months now, it seems to me to be a great way to keep your 4096 bit RSA keys in a safe, non-computer-hosted location, along with any really important stuff that you really can't handle being stolen. All the staff based in Canada have been telling me that they won't have them in stock for at least six weeks, but they can't give me details about the situation south of the border, so I can't comment on that.

All I can hope now is that the protocol is really simple so those of us that prefer free OSes will be able to mount it too :)

Linux Keyring

[graystar]

Stay tuned for a linux keyring, where you can plug in and play TM

could be useful....

[defaultXIX]

you could store medical data on it or some other trivial data, or maybe make it a car key that would remember all your settings and stuff.