Novelty Flash drives

[gremcint]

OVerpriced and only ever 4gb, I can buy a 16gb flash drive for less than 10 right now. So why not at least give use these flash drives with larger memory.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Because the 4GB memory and the USB interface are dirt cheap whereas the novelty shape is more expensive.

Think about it this way. When Sandisk comes out with the next size up, they usually put it into the same case as the previous offerings. I have a 1gb, a pair of 2gb, a 4gb, a trio of 8's and just last week I bought a 16gb to run Ubuntu as a hardware test platform and virus cleaner for Windows systems.

They all look the same. So similar in fact that I broke into the Wife's nail polish bin and marked them with a colored dot so I can see which is which at a glance as the silk-screening wears off.

So Sandisk and the other companies that make normal drives use a cheap and boring housing to compensate for the more expensive innards whereas the novelty companies use a cheap set of guts to compensate for the expensive novelty housing.

And why be so hard on them? After all they're a company that found a niche (people who like novelty USB drives) and are exploiting it for a profit.

Which is what companies seek as a common goal. To find a market and to make money off of it. If there is someone who wants to buy a humping dog USB drive, someone will make it and it will be purchased. If people want Transformers-themed USB Drives someone will make one and sell it to them.

As the owner of a transforming 2gb flash drive I have to guiltily raise a hand and admit that yes, even I was seduced by a metal transforming USB drive.

So what? It's fun, it's neat, and it's my money to spend. If I want an inexpensive flash drive, I go with one of the major companies. If I see something that appeals to my geeky side...I get it if I have the money to spare.

[Andara Bledin]

I probably have about a dozen novelty flash drives... I don't actually use them, I just have them to have.

And the non-novelty one that lives on my keychain.

^-.-^

[Hyena Dandy]

I have some stuff on my little novelty drives. Anything important is on either the computer or the portable hard-drive, or a 32 with the Arizona Cardinals logo on it. Those ones have some writing on them usually. Not important writing, but since writing is small, I can keep them on it 'cause they're all I need.

[fireheart17]

Smiggle down here (a stationery shop) sells Novelty Flash Drives if anyone is interested. Although they do it a little differently. You buy the flash stick from them (4GB) and then you can buy the novelty "cover" of your choice. They do wristbands and "themed heads". At the moment, they have their "around the world ones" (with the cap of the USB drive being a "head") and they're going to do their Xmas ones soon.

Oh and if anyone is interested, they do ship to the US

[the_std]

I have an old-school Joker flash drive that I've never taken out of the box. Yes, it was $20 for a 4gb when my job has them on for $9 for a plain 16gb, but it looks so AWESOME. The graphics on the box are great, and when my boyfriend and I move in together, he has a Batman one and a Riddler one that will go with it very nicely. It's all about the looks, I would never actually use it for its intended purpose.

[Nekojin]

I have an old-school Joker flash drive that I've never taken out of the box. Yes, it was $20 for a 4gb when my job has them on for $9 for a plain 16gb, but it looks so AWESOME. The graphics on the box are great, and when my boyfriend and I move in together, he has a Batman one and a Riddler one that will go with it very nicely. It's all about the looks, I would never actually use it for its intended purpose.

Then why get a Flash Drive at all? If you're never going to use it for its intended purpose, you'd be just as well off getting an action figure or some other piece of molded plastic or metal in an aesthetically-pleasing shape.

I have hundreds of those... some from Japan, some from the US. "Trading" figures from various anime shows (mostly scantily clad females), and "Figure Collection" figures from Marvel and DC.

[TheHuckster]

Then why get a Flash Drive at all?

Because Flash Drives are the PEZ DISPENSERS... OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!!!

[telecom_goddess]

am I weird for not having a flash drive at all? Anything I want to access on any computer I just stick on DropBox.

[Greenday]

I have an external hard drive worth 1TB of space. Nothing special about it.

Then I have a novelty flash drive. Not a ton of space, but not only is it a flash drive, it's also a pen! But wait, it's not just a pen/flash drive, it's also a laser pointer! ZOMG!

[Andara Bledin]

am I weird for not having a flash drive at all? Anything I want to access on any computer I just stick on DropBox.

Flash drives can be quite useful, particularly if you end up someplace that either doesn't have 'net access or with a system that needs to be fixed before it can get to the 'net.

As for why you would get a novelty drive instead of a figure - who said it was a choice? Collectors are going to collect, and the more different types of things there are that fit the collection, the better.

^-.-^

[the_std]

Then why get a Flash Drive at all? If you're never going to use it for its intended purpose, you'd be just as well off getting an action figure or some other piece of molded plastic or metal in an aesthetically-pleasing shape.

I'm not a collector, I just saw it in a store and thought it was adorable. I picked it up for cheap (it was regular price $50, down to $20) and I like looking at it on my desk.

Now, if I were a collector and I wanted to have the whole Batman pantheon staring down at me, I'd probably go the action figure route. However, it was an opportunity, I fell in love with it, and I'm never going to use it cause I don't want to wreck it.

[Nekojin]

I'm not a collector, I just saw it in a store and thought it was adorable. I picked it up for cheap (it was regular price $50, down to $20) and I like looking at it on my desk.

Now, if I were a collector and I wanted to have the whole Batman pantheon staring down at me, I'd probably go the action figure route. However, it was an opportunity, I fell in love with it, and I'm never going to use it cause I don't want to wreck it.

Fair enough. I just don't "get" the idea of buying a utilitarian device and not using it for the designed purpose. If I bought the TARDIS USB Hub from ThinkGeek, I'd be using it as a USB Hub.

Then again, I'm one of those freaks who never keeps anything in its original packaging*. I believe that the sole purpose of packaging is to keep it intact on its way to you, not as a display medium.

* Partly because the vast majority of manufactured "collectibles" are never actually going to be worth anything, and hoping that someday it'll be worth a ton is just a pie-in-the-sky fantasy.

[the_std]

Fair enough. I just don't "get" the idea of buying a utilitarian device and not using it for the designed purpose. If I bought the TARDIS USB Hub from ThinkGeek, I'd be using it as a USB Hub.

Ooo, as would I. I don't think a display-model TARDIS does justice to the thing it represents - the TARDIS never seems happy if it's sitting there, doing nothing! However, this flash drive of mine seems to have quite delicate printing on it that scratches easily. There's already a nick under the feet from taking it out of the box the first time. Therefore, I'd rather not use it, cause the whole reason I bought it is for the way it looks.

Then again, I'm one of those freaks who never keeps anything in its original packaging*. I believe that the sole purpose of packaging is to keep it intact on its way to you, not as a display medium.

Once again, I usually agree with you. Most boxes have done their all by the time you take your product out of them. This box is different, though - it's got fantastic graphics on it and a clever design. I like looking at the box almost as much as I like looking at the flash drive itself. Therefore, it's going to stay intact - at least for now. I'm definitely not keeping it packaged because of potential value down the road - I have no doubt that this was mass-manufactured and therefore worthless in the long run.

[SongsOfDragons]

I squee'd so loudly over the adorable little toast ones from Japan on ThinkGeek. So CUUUUTE!!

But I didn't buy them. I've learned to be more thrifty as I get older. My current working flash drive is a Kingston 8gb that's been chugging along nicely for a while. It's also blue, my favourite colour, an improvement over my last two over sixth form and uni which were just metal!