ONE TERABYTE DRIVE NEARS DEBUT
One of the many perks I get writing a newspaper column and hosting a national radio talk show is being able to publicly make predictions. At the beginning of each year, I go on the air and make several predictions about computers and related technology. So I take particular pleasure in saying that one of them has already come true. I predicted that we would see a single-unit one terabyte hard drive before the end of 2004. And all of my colleagues scoffed at me. Well in April of this year, the first one will become available.
For those of you not familiar with the term terabyte, let me put it into perspective. One byte is any character be it a letter, number or punctuation mark. One million of them is a megabyte. A thousand megabytes is one gigabyte or one billion characters. Today's hard drives typically store around 80 gigabytes. Top of the line models hold around 250 gigabytes and cost approximately $300. So one thousand gigabytes equals one terabyte or one trillion characters. That's a lot of storage. A one terabyte drive for example, can hold almost TWO YEARS of continuous music or one month of non-stop MPEG-2 video! Talk about a bottomless pit. For most of us, a one terabyte drive would more than likely hold everything we could possible every want and then some. And talk about one really sweet backup device. This baby would make the normally tedious process of backing up a dream.
 The terabyte drive will be coming from LaCie, a company that's been around for about 12 years which is a long time in this business. The first model will be called the "Bigger Disk d2." The one terabyte drive is an external device that stands on its side and measures a scant 6.3 inches high, 3.4 inches wide and 10.6 inches in length. The d2 sports a triple interface ability that supports the USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 standards. Of particular note is that the d2 has been designed to work on both the Windows and Macintosh platforms without the need for additional software drivers. That's right. You simply connect the d2 to your computer and it will automatically appear as another logical device on your computer's virtual desktop.
The drive's specifications are impressive as well. The drive spins at a faster 7200 rpm. Given the higher density of the data on the drive (the information is packed more closely together) coupled with the faster spin rate translates into an even faster access time. Basically all of this means that the information on the drive can be gotten to much more quickly which is a very good thing. The faster you can get to the information, the more responsive your computer becomes.
Other features and abilities include a large blue illuminated on and off button, but the drive also offers a unique automatic startup, shutdown and hibernation option that reduces excess noise and saves energy.
If all of this weren't impressive enough, LaCie isn't sitting around. The company plans to release another version of the d2 in May. The Bigger Disk d2 Extreme has all of the capacity and features of the d2, but the Firewire 800 interface will be even further enhanced to take full advantage of the standard's highest speed data transfer rates. The company claims that this terabyte drive will be able to send and receive its information to and from the computer up to 50 percent faster than the first d2. That's a good thing since the faster you can move the data between the hard drive and the computer, the more responsive your computer will become.
The LaCie Bigger Disk will sell for $1199. The Extreme model's price has yet to be announced. Check out the website for more details.
So there you have it. Another prediction comes true. The single terabyte hard drive has become a reality in 2004. And given what you would have to pay for four drives to get a terabyte, it's competitively priced. Not to wax nostalgic but I can still remember only a few years ago when I saw my first gigabyte hard drive and marveled. Back then with our megabyte mentality, I remember thinking how this drive would be all the storage I would ever need. Well I never said that all of my predictions come true.
www.lacie.com |
