News This USB flash drive can only store 8KB of data, but will last you 200 years

[Admin]

The Blaustahl USB storage device can hold only 8 kilobytes of data for 200 years.

This USB flash drive can only store 8KB of data, but will last you 200 years : Read more

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

outperforming NOR flash, which lasts up to 200 years, according to the manufacturer,

Correction. NOR flash is limited to up to 20 years at 55°C.

You missed one important point the original article mentions though, the limitation.

All this will also depend on read/cycle cycles and other conditions like humidity levels.

We also have to consider the complete device as if the RP2040 stops working after 30 years, or the USB port becomes rusty to the point of being unusable, it does not matter that much to have a long-lasting FRAM chip, although physical recovering methods (e.g. unsoldering) might still be possible.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Only 800 more years to go to beat the M-Disk.

 

[USAFRet]

Only 800 more years to go to beat the M-Disk.

Show us an M-Disk that has actually lasted for 1,000 years.

I know they've simulated this wear level, but, we're about 980 years from proving the 1,000.

Or 199 years from proving this flash drive.

 

[AngelusF]

Surely the real question is whether or not there will be USB in 200 years.

 

[Li Ken-un]

Surely the real question is whether or not there will be USB in 200 years.

But it’s universal! Surely that must translate to eternal ubiquity! (/s)

physical recovering methods (e.g. unsoldering) might still be possible.

Out of curiosity, I checked out the specs for some F-RAM chips. Apparently some mention a limited number of (de)soldering cycles for data retention. One would hope that this limit isn’t also a function of age like NAND data retention duration.

 

[cryoburner]

Of course it's from some startup company you never heard of, who was only established in 2021, so if the hardware fails in a few years, they might not even be around to answer for it. The device also appears to only be covered by a 1 year warranty, which seems a bit light for a product purported to be able to last for 200 years.

It's also questionable what you might even use this for. 8KB only works out to a few pages of plaintext. If your goal were long-term preservation of such a small amount of data, it seems like you would get better results by simply engraving text onto a sheet of plastic or metal. And if you were just storing passwords or something, the need for potentially 200 years of storage seems a bit questionable. If you want short-term redundancy, just mirror the data across 2 or more normal higher-capacity flash drives. And even if it were for some mission-critical storage task, would you really entrust that to a device from some unknown company that doesn't even specialize in storage?

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Surely the real question is whether or not there will be USB in 200 years.

More specifically, USB-A.

 

[NedSmelly]

I’d just print out a hard copy of 8KB worth of code if I wanted to archive it for several hundred years. That’s around 5 pages of Letter / A4 (depending on font size).

 

[DefNotANerd]

POV: Year 2222

*man opens time capsule*
"It appears to be some ancient technology of storage"
*Insert USB in old computer*
"It appears to be a text file that says "read me", let's open it".

The file:

8========D

 

[LabRat 891]

The usefulness of these kinds of devices are for Hardware DRM Keys, and other "hypersecurity"* measures.
Especially for long service life equipment like CnC machines, Automation and Control systems, etc.

Don't forget that, most of the 'DRM' we've come to know and disdain today, came from 'Industrial' computer technology industries


*I sincerely hope I just made that word up.

 

[USAFRet]

POV: Year 2222

*man opens time capsule*
"It appears to be some ancient technology of storage"
*Insert USB in old computer*
"It appears to be a text file that says "read me", let's open it".

The file:

8========D

1,000 years from now, archeologists will not know the difference between butt dial and booty call,

 

[Thunder64]

The usefulness of these kinds of devices are for Hardware DRM Keys, and other "hypersecurity"* measures.
Especially for long service life equipment like CnC machines, Automation and Control systems, etc.

Don't forget that, most of the 'DRM' we've come to know and disdain today, came from 'Industrial' computer technology industries


*I sincerely hope I just made that word up.

Nah, everything has to be AI now. "AI Security".

 

[Sippincider]

Surely the real question is whether or not there will be USB in 200 years.

Would not be at all surprised if RS-232, Ethernet, Windows 3 and even DOS are still in regular use in 200 years!

Anyway as others said this device would be vulnerable to heat and humidity over that kind of time. If I had 8k of data that needed to last for centuries, I’d probably put it on parchment or into granite.

 

[Li Ken-un]

More specifically, USB-A.

Those have been around since I was a kid. Even now, where can one find a computer that doesn’t have USB-A ports? Apple products are really the lone wolves in this regard.

I have a feeling USB-C will never really obliterate USB-A.

I hope I get to eat my words before they (or I) rot.

 

[bit_user]

NAND flash, which lasts between 16 to 20 years under similar conditions

That's a dangerous claim to make without further qualification. The kind of NAND storage which lasts that long is specialty, low-density memory intended for things like automotive applications.

Your SSD will not retain your data that long, if sitting unplugged in a box, drawer, or on a shelf. Nor will a typical, modern USB stick. In neither case should you assume more than a couple years, max. Magnetic storage tends to do better, here.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Hey, as long as I can claim the warranty after 199 years, sign me up please!

 

[USAFRet]

Hey, as long as I can claim the warranty after 199 years, sign me up please!

"Warranty only available to original purchaser"

 

[Sippincider]

"Warranty only available to original purchaser"

Likely "Will hold data up to 200 years". "Some exclusions apply." 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

[helper800]

If you want true long term storage buy a small plate of tungsten without cobalt in it and diamond etch whatever you want in an extremely small font for the same data density and use a microscope to read it, whatever it may be. That piece of tungsten, barring physical destruction, will last longer than the human race.

 

[TechyIT223]

So do humans live for 200 years for which one would be needing a backup of a tiny KB of data ? Clickbaited here. 😃

 

[Eximo]

1,000 years from now, archeologists will not know the difference between butt dial and booty call,

The urban dictionary will be maintained in perpetuity. It is too funny not too.

Aside from data degradation and selective retention it will be interesting in a few centuries that is for sure how language evolves.

Things like Standard American English and the like may be maintained to pretty rigorous standards. Also a lot of native language preservation happening around the world right now with digital recordings that will get archived properly.

I was joking the other day about how algorithms may do more to change language than anything else. Someone decides a word is objectionable and it gets added to a social media ban list. People adopt a new term and so on. Then we have whole cycles of word use decrease/increase.

Like how the internet uses the term unalive instead of death/suicide. Or how people came up with joke names to talk about Covid without getting censored.

 

[LabRat 891]

1,000 years from now, archeologists will not know the difference between butt dial and booty call,

In the future
Nobody will drop the bass

In the future
No-one will do the Harlem Shake

In the future
No-one will know bitches love cake

If you want true long term storage buy a small plate of tungsten without cobalt in it and diamond etch whatever you want in an extremely small font for the same data density and use a microscope to read it, whatever it may be. That piece of tungsten, barring physical destruction, will last longer than the human race.

Laser Etched Ceramics with a PVD 'sealing coating' seem less liable to chemically degrade. Tungsten isn't entirely inert, after all.

The urban dictionary will be maintained in perpetuity. It is too funny not too.

Aside from data degradation and selective retention it will be interesting in a few centuries that is for sure how language evolves.

Things like Standard American English and the like may be maintained to pretty rigorous standards. Also a lot of native language preservation happening around the world right now with digital recordings that will get archived properly.

I was joking the other day about how algorithms may do more to change language than anything else. Someone decides a word is objectionable and it gets added to a social media ban list. People adopt a new term and so on. Then we have whole cycles of word use decrease/increase.

Like how the internet uses the term unalive instead of death/suicide. Or how people came up with joke names to talk about Covid without getting censored.

Good observations, and interesting take.

I've heard such be referred to as "post-irony"

 

[TheOtherOne]

"Warranty only available to original purchaser"

I fully intend to stay around and claim my warranty after 199 years! 🕺🕺

 

[helper800]

In the future
Nobody will drop the bass

In the future
No-one will do the Harlem Shake

In the future
No-one will know bitches love cake

Laser Etched Ceramics with a PVD 'sealing coating' seem less liable to chemically degrade. Tungsten isn't entirely inert, after all.


Good observations, and interesting take.

I've heard such be referred to as "post-irony"

You have to raise temps to over 600 c to have highly specific and strong acids start to have an effect on pure tungsten. It does not rust or tarnish at less than being red hot, and tungsten carbides with no cobalt used are much tougher, and harder than ceramics. Put a diamond like carbon coating on it and it will last for thousands+ years.