EXAMPLE ONE: IPOD
These little music players have revolutionized the recording industry. They even eclipsed beer as "the coolest thing to have on campus," according to college students. It topped BEER! On a campus! Crazy. These little devices carry more memory than my desktop computer has, total. You can keep music, photos and videos very easily on ipods. You can also hold files, like documents or powerpoints, but the ipod isn't really set up to be used as purse for your files. It can carry a lot, but I wouldn't save a presentation on it and hope to plug it in and pull the presentation off perfectly. Currently, they can hold as little as 99 songs - which is 1 gigabyte (abbreviation: GB, or just "gig" with two hard "g"s). They can also hold 160 GB- approximately 40,000 songs!
EXAMPLE TWO: USB FLASH DRIVES
USB Flash Drives, USB drive, flash drive, thumb drive, dorkstick - all nicknames of the same thing. (Alright, I'll admit it- dorkstick was coined by my roommate when she saw how excited I was about my USB drive. Hey, if the shoe fits..)
USB drives are a great way to store and transfer files. It can hold pictures, videos, files, documents, presentation, music - anything you have on your computer, you can put on this little guy. They are much, much bigger than CDs. They are also much easier to use; you don't need a CD burner to put files on your USB drive. You literally just plug it into a special port that all computers have- the USB port - and your computer recognizes and you can open it as if it were your C:/ drive.
I wouldn't put entire programs on it- those are best saves for big-boy toys, like full computers - but they're great for the person who wants to use more than one computer but access the same files. For instance, if I start writing something at home, I usually don't get very far into it. Home is often too distracting for me. Instead, I move the file to my USB drive, and I can go anywhere! Libraries, a friend's house, work- it can go anywhere.
Usually, USB flash drives range from half a gigabyte- like mine is- or they can now get up to 8 GB for a cheap price. As technology goes up, price goes down, and a few years ago even holding 1 GB on something the size of your thumb was amazing. Now, it's de rigeur... back in my day though, I tell you...
EXAMPLE THREE: EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES
This is a pretty serious portable hard drive. USB drives usually hold a few gigabytes- enough for a couple hundred photos, sure, but what if you need to house a lot of movies? Or what if your computer breaks down and dies? Having a backup is a great idea. Cue the external hard drive's entrance! I recently moved across country temporarily, and I didn't want to lug my desktop along with me. So, I bought a sleek little pepsi-sized external hard drive, and now I can look at my photos and listen to all my music whenever I want to! Also, when my desktop dies, I won't lose five years' worth of photos and music and files. My whole life is in those photos!
A word to the wise, it pays to research these before buying. USB flash drives and ipods don't need much research - one is as good as the other- but if your portable hard drive has problems with staying alive beyond a year or so, you don't want to get it. The good hard drives will be quiet, they won't heat up very much, and they will be able to last a long time. Some hard drives are even waterproof - I think some are even bulletproof! You can take my life, but you can never have my- FILES! It's like Braveheart, for nerds. And the technologically wise.
PORTABLE HARD DRIVES: THE PITFALLS
1. Small Size: Where Did I Put That Thing??
It is much easier to lose a small hard drive than it to lose, say, your Hindenburg-sized desktop. iPods are notoriously easy to lose, and if you don't keep it close, it could even get stolen. (Hey, they're hot right now.) USB drives are usually attached to a key ring, that way you always know it's with you. However, they can have very cheap, thin plastic rings that can snap over time. Once it snaps, they can be pretty hard to find again. Portable hard drives are a bit harder to lose- usually those don't get carried around every single day. However, you have to treat it with care, otherwise it could slip out of your purse.. or get snatched out.
2. You Have To Have The Right Touch
Portable hard drives are a little more delicate than desktops or laptops. The most important thing to remember is to properly remove it when you are done with it. Did you get that? DO IT RIGHT. Earlier this summer, I thought my life was over because I didn't properly remove my drive and it got erased. ERASED! All my photos, my backups, everything. Gone. Luckily, it was a temporary thing, and I somehow got them all back. But don't count on being so lucky, you need to learn how to properly connect and disconnect your device.
3. Use It Or Lose It
Finally, portable hard drives are only as great as their utilization. If you have one, use it! It's better to have used and lost then to be stuck in the dark ages and not use a portable hard drive at all. They can really help you move photos around. If nothing else, use it to develop digital photos! You can put your pictures on the USB port, take it to a Walgreen's or CVS, and for mere pennies you can have high quality pictures without using your own expensive printer paper and ink. Jump on the bandwagon, folks- you don't want to be chained to just one computer. Go ahead, share what you have with your friends, family and coworker! Just do it safely, and always disconnect properly!
1 comment:
I think if you polled MSU's campus, beer would still be more favorable then an IPOD, just slightely ahead of lighter fluid....
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