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Disk Drives Face Challenge From Chips

Posted by Hemos on from the the-growth-of-hard-storage dept.

WSJdpatton writes "Researchers are reporting significant progress in perfecting a different way to store data in semiconductors, which could replace one widely used type of memory chip and possibly become a credible competitor to disk drives. The researchers, in a paper being delivered at a technical conference in San Francisco, say they used a novel combination of materials to create prototype phase-change components that are more than 500 times as fast as flash chips, while requiring less than half of the electrical power to record data."

8 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. In other news... by YourMotherCalled · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...a mad scientist will announce to his friends and family later today that he has come up with an idea for storing 500 times more data than a DVD on a single Cheerio.

    1. Re:In other news... by Easy2RememberNick · · Score: 2, Funny

      With or without milk?

  2. Re:No more harddrives? YES! by denis-The-menace · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can see as this memory becomes faster, cheaper and more reliable to replace system memory, too. I can even see the stuff become so cheap that backing all the info will become cost prohibitive, something like how tape backup systems cost way more today than a 2nd hard drive, but an order of magnatude higher.

    The irony is that this would explain why in the future (à-la-Star-Trek), backups of the computer's memory doesn't exist and cause improbable storylines for us system admins.

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  3. Re:Ita about time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Or any fans?

  4. On our way to the future by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can't we just skip ahead to the transparent crystals that glow in various colors and store almost limitless data? We all know that's where this is heading.

    Maybe we need to perfect holographic 3D displays first?

  5. Re:The iPod Fanboys..... by shaneh0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The chips won't work in brown devices."

    dirty f'in racist chips.

  6. Bah by feijai · · Score: 2, Funny

    Still won't be able to compete with the sheer density of colored symbols on A4 paper.

  7. Dark Star by camperdave · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd guess that the data would be highly compressable, though: Dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, star, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, star, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, star, dark, dark, dark...

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