USB Sticks and Bad Design...

[seawasp]

Over the years, I've owned something like 6 or 7 USB memory sticks.

I never INTENDED to have more than one, and I haven't actually HAD more than one at a time.

Why, then, have I had that many?

Because the manufacturers can't seem to be bothered to recognize that it'd be nice for their sticks to STAY ON THE KEYCHAIN.

One brand comes with a metal loop for putting it on your keychain. But the metal's thin and it's not a solid loop but a piece of wire that can come apart, and eventually does, leaving your USB in your pocket somewhere or letting it drop off on the floor or the street. After a few of these ended up lost or going through the laundry (which killed them), I got another one. This one had a hole through the plastic casing for the keychain.

A hole ON A SLANT. So that it wouldn't spin around and find a nice resting position like, say, the rest of your keys, but would be held tensely out from the keyring at some angle, and would always have trouble fitting into a USB drive without putting pressure on it.

This one has also broken, and currently I can't find it. I suspect it'll turn up in the wash, having been left in one of my pairs of pants.

Am I asking so much that these things be made tough enough to last a few MONTHS?

(Note: I'm sure there's expensive brands that meet the criteria, but really, I'm not asking for something that should require I pay a thirty-dollar premium; I can get loops for my keychain for pennies.)

Comments

[kjn]

While we're at it:

Please, computer manufacturers and device manufacturers, decide on standard minimum distance between ports and the maximum size of the things that are placed in them, so one USB device doesn't block the other USB ports.

[dsrtao]

I have a bunch of 6" USB extenders. They're really nice for that sort of thing. I see Monoprice only has them in 18" lengths currently, but still, they're less than a buck apiece:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10303#1030304

[kjn]

Another stupid thingy to put on your desk, that's there to solve an entirely artificial problem.

[dsrtao]

Well... no. The point of USB is to be a generic solution. If you need to move data and there's no need for a special interface, then USB should be your default choice. For keyboards and mice and video cameras and random bits of hardware, having a plug on the end that's about the width of your fingers and only fits in one orientation and is reasonably firm without being a pain to pull out -- it's much better than everything previously used. But if you are attaching and detaching something all the time, like a flash drive, an extension cable is actually a wonderful thing. You can position it where you want it, rather than where your desktop is. If you break the cable or the jack on the end of it, it's a cheap thing to replace.

[kjn]

For my desktop I have two USB ports in the display that are easily accessible.

For my laptop, where the ports are also much closer together, this is a much greater problem. The ports are easy to reach - but several USB devices block both ports. And I'd prefer to carry around as few cables as possible.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

It's called a "USB hub".

[dsrtao]

Something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/ADATA-Sport-Flash-Drive-AS805-16G-CGY/dp/B002EIYN4K/

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

USB flash drives aren't made to be key fobs so I'm not surprised that yours keep breaking. The ones that have keyring-like hooks and such are really intended to be attached to a hardpoint in a brief case or pack. Durability is the last consideration if it is even a consideration at all.

A dedicated lanyard is a much better way to carry around a USB flash drive on your person than making it play key fob. No weight on the loop to speak of so it won't break off in your pocket and get lost.

I've done both, hardpoint attach and lanyard, and I haven't lost a flash drive or had one break. I have a lot of 'em: five in my pack right now, a bunch in my desk at work, and a couple at home.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

This! I have a half dozen USB drives that each have a lanyard dedicated to them. So the lanyards from science fiction conventions past get reused in a fun way. Thus I can grab -n- go with a USB drive when needed - since the lanyards either hang on a hook meant for their storage - or are tucked in a purse or computer bag ... with the lanyard being there to make sure the drive isn't lost in the clutter.

[randallsquared.livejournal.com]

Oh they aren't made to be key fobs? Then why in the world did they call them "usb keys"!?

https://www.google.com/#q=%22usb+key%22&tbm=shop

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Marketing.

[gary-jordan.livejournal.com]

I have seven USB Thumb Drives. The oldest holds something like 500 Mb, two are 2Gb, and the other four are 8Gb. I had a 16Gb, but lost it. The keyring thingy broke. One of them holds every download I ever bought to install NoteTab Pro, Firefox, Opera, RAR, Mobipocket Install, etc. Two drives hold my entire eBook Library (two copies, one as backup for the other). That's over 1200 legitimately acquired eBooks, most from Baen, many from eBook vendors bought out by others. One drive is nearly full of my "Family Albums" - I've used and abused my scanners, and now I own a digital camera.

I have a thumb drive carrier that holds two drives, and velcroes closed. Its keyring attachment is much less fragile than those sold with thumb drives themselves.

My complaint is the durability of the drive itself. Two of my drives came apart when I pulled them from a slot. I found myself holding a plastic cover and looking at a circuit board stuck in the USB port. I still have them, but I obviously don't use them on a daily basis.

[jry.livejournal.com]

I have an old Kingston DT Mini that's been on my keychain for six or seven years. It's got one of those little teensy black tethers attached to a plastic strip which has somehow failed to detach all these years. You just made me look at it and I'm thinking it probably won't hold on much longer so I should upgrade it. This one looks practically perfect: http://www.kingston.com/us/usb/personal_business#dtse9h and the 16GB model is all of $12 at amazon.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

I've two of these on my ring. Never had an issue but I do hate the "exposed" aspect of the contacts. (The plastic cover is a joke.)

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-iamakey-Flash-Drive-131105/dp/B004D2AZ0Q

[kengr]

A related peeve. I acquired *by accident* an 8 GB flash drive that I only noticed after I had it home had a write protect switch. Incredibly useful.

This is a feature that ought to be common, if not universal. Instead you have to hunt around to find such drives.

It's ever so nice to be able to put software and files on that drive to load onto a possibly infected system without having to worry about carrying the infection back home.

[kpreid.livejournal.com]

Some write-protect switches are actually just hints to the driver and can be ignored by software or hardware designed to do so. (The case I'm familiar with is that the write protect thingy on SD cards does not actually make the card non-writable, and is not even a switch, but only mechanically triggers a switch inside the card slot.)

[kengr]

Well, the ones on USB sticks are (according to what I've read on a site that lists who to *find* the few ones that have them) actual write protects.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

A tech story I saw the other day told of a printed USB stick. The prototypes are currently only a few dozen MB, and read-only, but the whole thing can be tossed as recyclable paper when its usefulness is over. Not what you need, but an interesting novelty I thought.

[claidheamhmor]

I use a small black nylon lanyard maybe 4cm long, with a plastic clip (something like the end bit on the right on http://www.thebadgereelauthority.com/graphics/USB.lanyards.jpg. The male end of the clip goes on my keyring. Been using it for several years now.

[murstein.livejournal.com]

Instead of a thumbdrive, I have a micro SD card reader on my wristwatch. I intended to provide a link, but ThinkGeek is no longer selling it. Nor, as far as I could tell, is anyone else these days. (The few hits I'm finding on Google Shopping have much other geeky bling, and are selling for far too much to consider it an upgrade from the cheap thumb drives.)

Pity. It's a good and useful design. Which makes it anathema these days, eh?