SanDisk SD card can store data for 100 years

[NewsBot]

SanDisk on Wednesday announced a Secure Digital card that can store data for 100 years, but can be written on only once. The WORM (write once, read many) card is "tamper proof" and data cannot be altered or deleted, SanDisk said in a statement. The card is designed for long-time preservation of crucial data like legal documents, medical files and forensic evidence, SanDisk said.

The media comes with capacity of only 1GB. SanDisk determined the media's 100-year data-retention lifespan based on internal tests conducted at normal room temperatures.

To draw comparisons, the card is like DVD-write only media, but much smaller and with a much longer life span.

SD cards typically slot into portable devices like digital cameras and mobile phones to store or move images, video or other data. The WORM works like conventional SD media, but only with compatible devices, SanDisk said.

The company said it is shipping the media in volume to the Japanese police force to archive images as an alternative to film, SanDisk said. The company is working with a number of consumer electronics companies including camera vendors to support the media.

The media is available worldwide through resellers. SanDisk did not comment on pricing.

Source: MSFN

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[James_A]

... the card is like DVD-write only media ...

"write only" -- as in you can never, ever, ever read it ???

I've not heard of "write only" media. It must be about as useful as a dead hard-disk !

Apart from that, the WORM SD card sounds just right for taking potentially incriminating photos that you don't want anyone to delete.

PS: I traced this article from the front page, back to MSFN and further back to InfoWorld and they all say the same "write only" thing.

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[Eldmannen]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write-only_memory

[James_A]

That's an interesting read. Thanks Eldmannen

The opening paragraph explains very well:

Since there seems to be no obvious use for such a memory circuit, from which data cannot be retrieved, the concept is most often used as a joke or a metaphor for a failed memory device.

There are also (as Wikipedia points out) some very specialised uses for write-only ports in programming CPU's and other digital circuits, but general write only memory / write only DVD / write only anything-else is a joke.

An aircraft "black-box" is sometimes said to be write-only but again, that's not true. It's actually R/W.

So the original article must have been a typo: they meant to put DVD-write once (not DVD-write only). In other words, a standard DVD-R.

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