Fake Memory Sticks - How Much Memory Have You Really Got In Yours

USB Flash Memory storage devices are a practical and highly portable method of storing and moving data between places. Flash Memory is highly practical for this task as it has no moving parts, supports fairly large storage and if used properly has very little chance of failing in any serious manner.
This doesn't explain the huge number of failures noted in recent months, in fact the whole of the data recovery industry seem to be focusing a lot of attention in the USB Memory Stick Recovery sector, but why should good old trustworthy Flash Memory require such devoted attention?
As with any storage technology over time costs drop and adoption increases and the humble USB memory stick is testament to this paradigm. From the time the technology went mainstream it has had a massive growth rate and recent years have seen a doubling of sales year on year . The expectation for the end of this year is expected top be circa three hundred million.
With such large numbers of devices actually being shipped and purchased by the consumers and increase in the number of failures is in reality inevitable, however the actual level of failure is a cause of concern and is reported to be running far higher than is acceptable.
So why is it that a storage media famed for its reliability fail in such high numbers? Well in about 98% of cases it is not the Flash memory that fails, in fact, following a failure it is not uncommon that the NAND memory chip within the USB device is found to be in perfect working order.
Part of the problem lies with the consumer to some extent as the demand for ever cheaper products leads to the need for lean and more efficient or cheaper manufacturing requirements. A lot of failed devices are said to originate in the far east as are marketed as generic memory devices. In addition there is also a large increase in the number of fake devices in the market place.
These fake devices are intended to appeal to the greed emotion that is prevalent in all but a few consumers , but just because it is cheaper does not mean it is better. The manufacturing process may be cheaper in different world economies but the other factor that is immeasurable by the consumer is the quality of the components.Lower standard components are cheaper but just don't last the distance in a lot of cases.
Often These portable devices will hold a lot of your valuable data that if lost and not backed up could be lost forever. You get what you pay for as the saying goes so is it really worth the increased risk of data loss to save what is in reality a tiny sum compared to the cost of a branded device?

By:

Author Bio: Mike White is a technology journalist specialising in business IT services and support, Raid Data Recovery, Raid Recovery computer hardware and design and technology trends.

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