Shrinking Memory Chips

There is no shortage of memory card formats, and I'm sure there are many more planned. It's good for business that just as you collect a drawer full of compact flash cards, that now your new device needs a Secure Digital card. And then just when you have those cards, then they switch to the Mini SD card (which never really caught on because SD Micro was right behind it). The pattern becomes obvious as the manufacturers rinse, cycle and repeat as we buy the next card in the cycle.

The overall trend is to make these flash cards smaller and smaller. As our electronics approach the size of a Chiclet, those older memory formats simply are too big to preserve the svelte lines of that new digital camera or smartphone. Hence, the memory guys come out with an even smaller format that will fit inside of the new device.

I recently purchased a new Micro SD card. As I thought compact flash was pretty, well, compact, I was shocked the first time I saw the thin lines of a Secure Digital card. I was even more amazed when the Mini SD format was introduced that cut the size of the SD card in half roughly. Needless to say, this latest format, Micro SD is something out of a James Bond film that is around one quarter the size of the full SD cards. The Micro SD is also very thin as it needs to fit into the standard size SD adapter to be read by a computer. Seriously, I can only start to imagine how such a small card can hold such a large amount of data, and be this affordable as well (one gig for ten bucks!). While we've all seen pictures in magazines and web sites of these teeny cards, until I held one directly it didn't hit me how diminutive this card really was.

While this downwards spiral towards smaller and even smaller continues unabated, I'm starting to wonder if it should stop at some point. I really can't imagine wanting to own anything smaller than the Micro SD card. It's already smaller than my thumbnail, and as thin as an index card. If we sneeze on it the wrong way, it will be easily lost, and quite difficult to find again. Make that impossible to find if it gets lost outside. Also, before they bring the “Nano SD” card to market (or whatever they decide to call it, “Microscopic SD” anyone?), we should also recall that we have an aging demographic with close vision issues, and arthritis. For example, my octogenarian cousin, who uses his digital camera quite often, would have difficulty loading the Micro SD into his camera.

I think that Micro SD is small enough, and the quest for tiny electronics needs to be balanced with a size that can be used. While one day we may be able to store a gig of data on the head of a pin, the memory makers should remember that it needs to be in a format that preserves usability. Let's hope the Nano SD doesn't come too soon, or at the least, they package in forceps and a magnifying glass because many will need it. Then again, with everything electronic constantly shrinking, some things in life are simply inevitable.

--Jonas