iPod shuffle as USB flash drive

[quidire]

Hi there,

$150 for a 1GB flash drive seems a reasonable enough price. The FAT32 formatting of the shuffle makes it convenient, even if the thought of plugging it into my PB makes me wince ;)

so here are my questions:
a) any reason related to the functionality required of a keychain drive that the iPod shuffle wouldn't be able to be used well in this capacity?
b) any idea if there are metal or (preferably) white acrylic "keychain adapters" for the lanyard holes in the shuffle?
c) what is "shadow mode"? supposedly a feature the iPs has that would be useful in this application?
d) people have mentioned the idea of using a plugged-in flash drive as an authentication device; is this possible, can the iPs be used in this manner, how does one do this, and what complications might arise from doing so?

thanks
-RS

[DougJrS]

If you just want a USB drive you can get a 1G Lexar drive for about $75.

Lexar also talks about the auto logon security feature, but only with PC's. They have a new drive that has a finger print scanner builtinto it (http://www.lexar.com/jumpdrive/jd_touchguard.html) but again only for XP systems.

Doug

[quidire]

If you just want a USB drive you can get a 1G Lexar drive for about $75.

Lexar also talks about the auto logon security feature, but only with PC's. They have a new drive that has a finger print scanner builtinto it (http://www.lexar.com/jumpdrive/jd_touchguard.html) but again only for XP systems.

Doug

I am not very concerned about price, and I hardly want to "reward" companies for ignoring my platform of choice.

I'll always prefer Kensington to Logitech for that reason; Logitech's insistence on ignoring os x compatibility for its bluetooth products smacks of laziness given that we represent a fairly large chunk of the BT-installed user base.

Anyway, my question had more to do with functional capability, much less to do with the lowest possible price. If Lexar's product is discerably more functional for an OS X user, than that is something worth considering.

I do appreciate your spending time trying to answer my question though
:)

-RS

[DougJrS]

Does Logitech own Lexar or somehting like that? I don't understand your connection between the two companies.

As for as flash drives go I don't know of any real difference.

Maybe someone else has something to add....

Doug

[quidire]

Does Logitech own Lexar or somehting like that? I don't understand your connection between the two companies.

As for as flash drives go I don't know of any real difference.

Maybe someone else has something to add....

Doug

They are both companies that are not "Mac Friendly"

-RS

[jsw]

The Shuffle makes a nice USB flash drive, except that it's not all that fast - ~150MB/minute transfer rates.