History 2001: First CompactFlash Cards at 1GB

Three companies have released 1GB CompactFlash cards, Simpletech, in collaboration with Hitachi back in August, then more recently Optosys Technologies working with Lexar Media, both in Type III (5.5mm thick), followed by SanDisk with its Type I (3.3mm) product.

1GB flash cards already existed, but only in the little used Type II form factor, or larger PCMCIA format.

All should be available sometime in 1Q02, at prices announced at $900 by Optosys and $800 for San Disk.

Optosys is already talking about a 2GB card by next year.

This means HDDs are now lagging, with flash technology quickly catching up, if not at the level of prices, despite significant drops this past year.

IBM’s 1GB (Type II) MicroDrive lists at $379. For the moment, flash cards are still slow when writing, but the technology continues to advance.

Hitachi has promised a 1GB card based on a 1Gb chip with 10MB/s write transfer rates within a year.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 167 on December 2001 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.