Who really invented the thumb drive?: The Ubiquitous USB Gadget is the Brainchild of an Unsung Singapore Inventor
Stevens, Hallam (2023) Who really invented the thumb drive?: The Ubiquitous USB Gadget is the Brainchild of an Unsung Singapore Inventor. IEEE Spectrum, 60 (2). pp. 26-31.
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Abstract
In 2000, at a trade fair in Germany, an obscure Singapore company called Trek 2000 unveiled a solid-state memory chip encased in plastic and attached to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector. The gadget, roughly the size of a pack of chewing gum, held 8 megabytes of data and required no external power source, drawing power directly from a computer when connected. It was called the ThumbDrive. That device, now known by a variety of names—including memory stick, USB stick, flash drive, as well as thumb drive—changed the way computer files are stored and transferred. Today it is familiar worldwide.
Item ID: | 78657 |
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Item Type: | Article (Commentary) |
ISSN: | 1939-9340 |
Keywords: | Information storage, Companies, Drives, Universal Serial Bus, memory, Product design |
Copyright Information: | © Copyright 2024 IEEE. |
Funders: | National Heritage Board, Singapore |
Date Deposited: | 28 May 2024 04:48 |
FoR Codes: | 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441007 Sociology and social studies of science and technology @ 50% 46 INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES > 4699 Other information and computing sciences > 469999 Other information and computing sciences not elsewhere classified @ 50% |
SEO Codes: | 22 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SERVICES > 2203 Information services > 220302 Electronic information storage and retrieval services @ 100% |
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