First a video….Most of you have probably seen it, and although it credits Intel a bit too much, it’s brilliant: Youtube
USB 1.1 started life in 1996 with a 12mbit/s (1.5 Megabytes per second) speed, it was created in a by a group of big name companies working together creating different segments of the technology. Microsoft created the Windows integration side, Intel created the controller and stack software, Phillips produced early USB audio and TI produced the hub chips, there were many other companies involved as well including Compaq, Digital, IBM and Northern Telecom.
USB 2.0 was released in April 2000 with a transfer rate of 480mbit/s (60 Megabytes per second)…this is the current specification of USB, which today powers things from iPods and coffee cup warmers to printers and portable hard drives. Next year we will start seeing USB 3.0 which will have proposed transfer speeds of up to 4.8 gbit/s (600 Megabytes per second).
Thumb drives – I remember walking into Dick Smith in 2003 and buying one of the first thumb drives on the market….it had 16 Megabytes of space and cost $40…now you can order a 128 Gigabyte thumb drive for $200 – $300 meaning most people can pretty much carry anything they want with them, Stores that sell videos/DVD’s are now selling movies on thumb drives as well as they are now so affordable.
It is the ease of USB that has made it so popular….you can simply plug a device in and it will install itself…..you don’t have to open the computer up or fiddle with drivers or even install a program and this is why it is now installed in everything from cars to this guy:
“A software developer in Finland has installed a USB drive in the finger he had amputated following a motorcycle accident last year.
Helsinki man Jerry Jalava said the 2GB storage device has been very handy for transporting pictures, video and other computer documents.
He got the bizarre idea when his surgeons found out what he did for a living and joked he should have a USB stick mounted on his finger stump.
Mr Jalava took the idea seriously.”
Article from: Ninemsn.com.au
Chris Thursfield
