Tiny technology up to a million times faster than hard drives
A revolutionary new memory technology dubbed "racetrack" promises to run laps around current computing ability, transforming today's sleek Nanos and netbooks into the clunkers of the future.
The technology, currently under development in IBM's labs, could enable a handheld device to store half a million songs, or 3,500 movies.
Stuart Parkin, an IBM inventor of racetrack, says the technology will be tinier, faster, cheaper and more reliable than conventional hard disk and flash memory.
"Racetrack will have cheap memory with the possibility of being one million times faster than hard disks without the risk of wearing out," he says.
There is no "seek" time -- as with hard disks, which have to search for information -- so computers would be able to boot up almost instantly, he suggests.
In addition, racetrack will also be environmentally friendly, using less power and generating less heat, Parkin says.
"The tremendous amount of storage, faster performance and reduced energy requirements make it a nice green and smart technology," says Parkin.
He estimates commercialized racetrack technology is about five to seven years away.
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An interesting concept, Sinc. Not sure if I have enough time to get through the half a million songs, or 3,500 movies, but there are some young enough to appreciate this capacity and speed. We shall see.
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Dr.G.
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"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
I feel certain that Microsoft will be able to find a way to make this technology feel slow and sluggish, thereby safeguarding their customers from the shocking stress of dealing with digital technology that works.
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