WD will have SSD development going on and this has surely been in development for sometime. I don't think it is reactionary.
20,000 RPM 3.5 inch drive ... no.
20,000 RPM 2.5 inch drive in a 3.5 inch enclosure ... me thinks there is a reason why they are doing this.
Non-SSD drives are going to be around for a long time yet.
Of course.
But eventually, moving HDs will be thing of the past. How long this will take is anybody's guess.
Sounds loud, whatever they claim.
I agree, but with that kind of enclosure, they may be able to silence it quite a bit. After all it is a 2.5 inch HD in a 3.5 inch enclosure.
Let me know when I can pick up an SSD harddrive that is a TB plus in size for around 150 bucks daily -
In 1994, I purchased the largest HD you could get for AV recording.
It was a 1GB Seagate Barracuda drive. Had a SCSI interface. Cost me $1,200 if memory serves.
Today, 15 years later, you can get 1,000 times the storage for about 1/8 the price.
Around that same time, a 32MB SIMM cost $3,200.
Today I can get 32GB flash memory. Cost is less than $200. Yes, flash memory is not the same as RAM, but flash was not available back then so only using for a price comparison.
So 15 years later I can get 1,000 times the memory for 1/16 the cost.
Within 10 years (probably closer to 5 years), I would expect to see almost all laptop/portable devices running on flash memory.
Flash memory is more power efficient, lighter, quieter, no moving parts, etc. This type of storage is very advantageous to the mobile user.
SSD has a long , long way to go to replace today's harddrives
Granted it won't be overnight.
I would suggest that it is probably not as long as you think.
The article mentioned 12 to 18 months (est.?) for the prices to lower. Nor was there any mention of an increase of capacity during this time.
Let me give you an older example that might illustrate/indicate what we will see.
Back when 4MB RAM memory chips were the largest on the market and just introduced, certain labs, which will remain
Nameless had 16MB RAM memory chips working in the lab. My friend was an engineer who was working on them. It took almost 3-4 years to see commercial examples. Before the 16's were released, the 8's were released. Why? Marketing and sales.
If you think for a moment that 64GB SSDs are the largest out there, you have a big surprised waiting for you. But companies need to make money to cover R&D costs. So we won't see them on the market for a while. But they will come.
So it seems to be awhile off before the cost and capacity of SSD's reach mainstream acceptance.
Performance junkies, or guinea pigs if you prefer, will take likely the plunge earlier.
It all depends what are the time definitions.
