Archiving - now that’s cocktail-party conversation! But something may be on the horizon that could make it sexy.
In one of those little conversations you have on the floor at NAB, a knowledgeable person (who, of course, must remain anonymous) opined that 32 gigabyte SD cards will not only be available in less than a years time, but that by the time NAB2009 hits they will cost the princely sum of $5.
Imagine that, now. A 63 minute DV tape is essentially 13Gb of digital storage, for around $5 on the street. Solid-state non-volatile storage for about one-third of that cost? This could be a real game changer.
Of course, all progress comes with downsides. Fellow PVCer Adam Wilt tells a story of the day he accidentally dropped a DV tape into a cup of tea. That wasn’t really a problem in the days of Betacam, unless you drank your tea out of a bucket. And DV had another downside which would be magnified in SD mass storage - tiny labels. But in the whole, this could be a fairly easy solution to a very vexing problem - where do you store your projects when they are finished and you need the drive space for the next one? Spinning discs? Bah. I have a stack of dead hard drives a foot tall in my shop. DLT? How 1990’s. We need something better, and cheaper. Could this be the breakthrough?
PS: Of course, I faked the picture up there. But you knew that - my Photoshop-Fu is only surpassed by the average 1st grader running MS Paint.
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Great News!! Is this price drop a result of some sexy new technology (that you can’t tell us about) or just mass production?
glennser
Posted by on 04/29 at 05:41 PM
But those flash cards are so small! Not only would they fall in a cup of teas, but a cup of espresso.
I feel more comfortable having a big, blocky tape occupying space on a shelf. With SD cards, I won’t even need a shelf, just a 3x5 index card box. A card box doesn’t really inflict the shock and awe that a wall of oxide tape does. Would clients still take me seriously?
Maybe not, but the idea of storing archives on SD cards doesn’t really cause me much concern. The lack of moving parts is a plus, and SD cards are a pretty established standard. But why stop there. Maybe we should even consider solid state drives, like the ones found in new laptops.
Posted by on 04/30 at 01:24 PM
Drop it in coffee? That’s OK, it is solid state, it will survive!
Rub magnets on it as well - no risk, unlike hard drives.
But yeah, the tiny size - for reasons of loss and labelling, are of concern.
Treat’em like diamonds, and invest in cases.
: )
-mike
Posted by Mike Curtis on 05/07 at 04:31 PM
I archive all of my projects on DL Bluray discs. Most projects will fit on one, but there is nothing else that gives me 50gb of physical storage for $40.
Posted by on 05/12 at 09:37 AM
