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Although the last rites have yet to be read, the role of the floppy drive has faded into almost total insignificance.  With its limit of 1.44MB capacity and gradual disappearance from new systems, especially of the notebook variety, it is not surprising that software manufacturers decline to use this method of distributing their products.  End users have also tended to abandon this method of storing files and opted instead for flash drives as the means of transporting files from one location to another.

See also: Flash memory

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Initially flash drives arrived with capacities of 8 and 16MB but, as file sizes continued to grow, larger capacity flash drives became the norm, admittedly at an increased price point.  Verbatim, with its roots in the development of data storage technology were in an ideal position to note this trend and felt that this uptake in the increased storage capacity was creating a vacuum with regards to low-capacity storage.  

As a result Verbatim has created a new product with 16MB of storage capacity.  Circular in shape and based on the same technology as the USB Flash Drive, this product, not surprisingly, has been entitled FlashDisc.  Looking like a polo mint on steroids, the FlashDisc weighs in at approximately 9g and measures 6cm in diameter and 0.9cm in height.  By removing an arch-shaped protective cap, you reveal the USB connector and turn the FlashDisc into a fan-shaped device.  While this shape is fine if your USB ports are of the vertical type, there could be a problem fitting this device into a populated USB hub or set of ports that are arranged horizontally.

Inserting the FlashDisc into a spare port should be all that is needed for the device to be recognised as an additional drive by Windows, Mac OS 9 or later and Linux 2.6.x.  However Windows 98SE users will need to download the appropriate drivers for the FlashDisc to be recognised.

I did come across a problem when attempting to use a FlashDisc on one system running Windows XP Service Pack 2.  While there was no difficulty in the device being recognised and allowing files to be transferred to and from the new drive, the situation changed if the FlashDisc was present during a boot-up process.  For some reason, as yet unexplained, the FlashDisc was identified as a non-system floppy disk with the result that the boot sequence hung.  As soon as the FlashDisc was removed, the system booted without any further interruptions.  I have been unable to duplicate this problem on a second system running the same operating system so maybe this is just an idiosyncrasy of that one computer.

Each FlashDisc has a small rewritable label to help identify content.  Packs of the discs will be available in a range of colours.  Pricing has been set at £13.99 for a pack of three.

http://www.verbatim.com/products/products.cfm?pc_parent=FlashMedia&pc_id=41D49046-1143-3415-5F1F32A2AD8FA494