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For the first time, scientists at IBM Research have demonstrated reliably storing 3 bits of data per cell using a relatively new memory technology known as phase-change memory (PCM). The current memory landscape spans from venerable DRAM to hard disk drives to ubiquitous flash. But in the last several years PCM has attracted the industry's attention as a potential universal memory technology based on its combination of read/write speed, endurance, non-volatility and density. For example, PCM doesn't lose data when powered off, unlike DRAM, and the technology can endure at least 10 million write cycles, compared to an average flash USB stick, which tops out at 3,000 write cycles. This research breakthrough provides fast and easy storage to capture the exponential growth of data from mobile devices and the Internet of Things.
http://phys.org/news/2016-05-ibm-scientists-storage-memory-breakthrough.html
Sounds good. What are the implications of the 3,000 write cycle limitation on our USB memory sticks?It seems to me most of us would not approach that. We write something to the stick--whether pics, music, text . . . and tend to leave the data where we first wrote it. Even if we change it around a bit, I doubt we'd get any where near 3,000 different writes. Am I off base?
No you're not off base. Plus flash is so cheap it doesn't make sense to worry about organizing the sticks to preserve space.Just buy another.
It can be easier to hit the 3k limit than you might expect, particularly if your OS uses a risk management system that aggressively manages disk space to avoid fragmented files.
I have Win 10. . . I know, I know. But I have it. I don't THINK it's doing the aggressive defragmentation thing of my memory sticks. But what do I know. LOL. I usually instruct System Mechanic to occasionally defrag my hard drive. And frequently--daily to defrag my RAM.
I defrag my RAM too, by turning my computer off.
