U is For: USB Drive
If you’ve bought a laptop or researched wireless internet providers in the last few years odds are your computer’s got a USB drive. They’re useful for all kinds of things and we’d like to share a few facts for those who don’t know much about them:
USB is an acronym for the Universal Storage Bus interface which nearly all computers are compatible with. Most USB drives weigh less than 30 grams and are much smaller than their predecessors, floppy discs.
Drives primarily are used for connecting to computer systems but most are also compatible with other operating systems like DVD players, Xbox and Playstation.
IBM started selling the first commercially available USB drive in 2000.
Most USB connectors are built to withstand around 1,500 connect and disconnect cycles which should lapse the entire lifespan of most people’s usage.
USB’s are becoming increasingly commonly used as marketing devices: in pens, by themselves and branded as shaped items, companies are giving out functional USBs to help people remember their names.
USBs are currently sold that allow for data encryption to prevent theft.