Counterclockwise: short history of the memory card

18 November 2018
Memory cards helped phones to store MP3s, the photos taken by the first camera phones and much, much more.

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  • Anonymous
  • uEy
  • 18 Nov 2018

Shanti Dope, 18 Nov 2018Most probable reason is that the insanely high capacity sto... moreI understand that high capacity and fast storage are availabe in recent flagship phone.

But I am talking about backup here in case sh*t happened to the phone (it happened to me). Sd card is my saviour at that frustating time.

I am using sd card right now just for photos and document, not for apps. I keep all my apps in internal storage.

Also, it's a very convenient way to migrate all your photos and document to new phone, just pop it in and you're golden, no need to upload download to/from cloud.

I don't trust cloud services either. I prefer pay once for an sd card for additional storage, no internet needed, larger capacity.

Yeah, i agree with you, better have it but not needing it rather than need it but not having it.

    Anonymous, 18 Nov 2018A good read. But it's so sad that most high end phone maker... moreMost probable reason is that the insanely high capacity storages that are built inside the phones are enough for most users already, and I do agree to it to some extent, however, a choice is a choice, and an option is always a good thing.
    Another is the fact that external storage cannot match the speed of the internal memory, but that's also why Google disabled the 'Apps on SD Card' option on Android already.

      AnonD-558092, 18 Nov 2018There are high-endurance cards but those aren't free. Cheap... more"Also the industry is willing to pay for those better cards so there's no need for lower prices."

      No, just no. Let the consumers have a choice. Please, I beg, on behalf of all the people who can't afford all of the most expensive things on Earth, that we should have the products built accordingly to our budget.
      Not everyone can afford a $200 SD Card, let alone a $500 one. We'd gladly take some compromises for the sake of having lower price tags.
      It's not like great things can't be cheap in this world, and enough doesn't have to be the most expensive, so please, just don't abandon cheap SD Cards completely.

        Anonymous, 18 Nov 2018At least Huawei is tryning to push forwardPushing forward in what way?
        Their Nano Memory Cards
        -do not allow 2 SIMs and a SD Card simultaneously in a hybrid slot
        -are, at best, offer just half as much capacity as the best available SD Card could give (Ik for a fact that they could make an even higher capacity one in the future, but so will SD Card makers, which begs the question as to exactly what benefits are people going to get for picking this up over a traditional SD Card)
        -aren't as widely available as traditional SD Cards (Huawei should've prepared to get this thing available in many regions if they really want to push this thing)
        -doesn't save any space or portability (seriously, this is pretty much just a SD Card in a SIM Card shell!)
        -doesn't offer any better speed than traditional SD Cards (one thing they should've done to be able to make this thing a remarkable piece of technology)

        To tell you honestly, Huawei is just doing what Sony has done in the past. They made their own propietary solution for their own good, but gained little to nothing from it.
        If they think that they're going to be successful with this decision like Apple did with their Lightning Port, then be it, but I don't think it will happen, not because I don't like them, but because there are many factors that would prevent their work to be a huge success.
        I myself would like to see what Huawei is up with the future of this thing, but as of now, I have little expectations from it.

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          • AnonD-558092
          • 45}
          • 18 Nov 2018

          A smart Shooter, 18 Nov 2018The memory card must become cheaper and more capacity after... moreThere are high-endurance cards but those aren't free. Cheap price means cheap quality. You can't have it all. Also the industry is willing to pay for those better cards so there's no need for lower prices.

            The memory card must become cheaper and more capacity after few years but only the durability doesn't improve. Just the Huawei Nano Memory card it is very expensive and poor durability.

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              • Viper
              • B{Q
              • 18 Nov 2018

              i still remember the struggle for M2 cards back in 2006 and how they were expensive compared to microSD, i paid almost 50 euros back then for just 512 MB storage for my Sony Ericsson K800i lol
              But then the next year came the Sony Ericsson K850i which was supporting both memory cards, that was revolution back then.

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                • dev
                • ajS
                • 18 Nov 2018

                I remember paying a boat load of money for a 256MB microSD some 15 years ago. Still works today.

                  EskeRahn, 18 Nov 2018Uh "Never" is a very long time... And you are SUPER optimi... morePS here is a simple and free way to do INCREMENTAL file backups of (among other things) the heavy parts of the device (images/videos/music)
                  https://eskerahn.dk/wordpress/?p=1668

                  And then use any suitable backup app to take a backup of the rest (they usually only do totals, but that is not an issue, if you can EXclude the media stuff). Note that MMS and SMS, especially to multiple recipients by most tools get more or less messed up on restore. The text survives but the links to the images disappears, and to multiple recipients things get duplicated.

                    Alien , 18 Nov 2018UHS or NM, I don't care as long as my SMARTphone has the sl... moreUh "Never" is a very long time...
                    And you are SUPER optimistic, if you think that only what is transferred over the net is spied upon... Expect what ever is on your SD cards could be peeked into too.

                    Sure if you got an expensive data plan (and in many places they are still expensive, and paid per amount used) it is of course without charge to transfer using the SD-card - but often the same could be done as easy as fiddling with the small card by a cable. And the security of the cable is not less than the card, as there is no write protect mechanism.

                    But if the phone break downs, you got a point IF ALL the important things is stored on the memory card... You should take regular backups of your device with or without an SD-card.

                    Not that it is very likely for ordinary people that our data are spied upon. But whoever the Russians/US/Chinese/Persians/Israelis (and perhaps others too) would want to spy on for political or commercial reason would be in the risk zone.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • uEy
                      • 18 Nov 2018

                      A good read. But it's so sad that most high end phone makers except sony samsung and LG are abandoning memory card slot

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                        • Alien
                        • 3RM
                        • 18 Nov 2018

                        UHS or NM, I don't care as long as my SMARTphone has the slot for it.
                        I will never buy a phone without the SD card slot. It may have 10TB and 100GB RAM, I'm not interested if it's not available. PERIOD.
                        Crapple, Pixel, OP => never gonna buy one because of the missing slot.
                        People say that sd cards are obsolete. This is a silly trend started by the blind sheeps of Apple and by the chinese wannabe brands who copy them in every way including that idiotic notch. I say check SanDisk website and see for yourself that every day there's a new model available with better speeds and quality.
                        If I brake my phone beyond repair, I just pop up the card into a new phone and voila!
                        No internet connection required, no stupid spying cloud services.
                        SD cards are the best!

                          Anonymous, 18 Nov 2018At least Huawei is tryning to push forwardWell "trying to push", yes. But the "forward" bit is a bit more dubious....

                          I fail to see ANY advantage *for the user* over a hybrid SIM/MicroSD slot.

                          ...But of course *for HUAWEI* it would be beneficial, if they could sell the memory too...

                            AnonD-558092, 18 Nov 2018I was thinking of something else. Sorry for that. However t... moreStrictly SIM-cards DO have memory on them, but it is by far in the GB range. It is in KB (or perhaps by now in the low MB) range. That is why phones had to store the MMS on the phones, and later the SMS followed, so they are rarely stored on the SIM today.

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                              • AndreiB
                              • LaG
                              • 18 Nov 2018

                              They forgot to mention the SIM+, a SIM card with 128MB of flash storage, it was developed by Orange, Sagem and some other manufacturers and was launched somewhere in 2006-2007, it was a flop as SD card prices were falling.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • mqs
                                • 18 Nov 2018

                                At least Huawei is tryning to push forward

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 043
                                  • 18 Nov 2018

                                  I would appreciate an article about phone storage variants, like mentioned here, eMMC and NVMe, but also UFS with its many variations. I think this topic may become important next year as I heard that phones will start to implement UFS 3.0 which should be faster than NVMe, which could also mean that Apple would switch from NVMe.

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                                    • Andy
                                    • uvG
                                    • 18 Nov 2018

                                    The hunger of data storage is rapidly incresing day by day. It really seems any "danger" is coming because more and more technology leads to various problems.
                                    People talk about global warming,gas emission but who talk about "e-waste".
                                    Companies are just filling their pockets.
                                    They should have "Rethink" about products. Because market is flooded with smartphones.
                                    Please don't create more but create something near about perfect.Don't update phone by "+" or "Pro" make fresh upgrade.

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                                      • Nro
                                      • a4}
                                      • 18 Nov 2018

                                      Al-Aqsa Lover, 18 Nov 2018I think the micro sd is the enough in its form, All what i... moreNo one can't stop new technology bro.... You will buy one when it's available with fast read and write speeds.

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                                        • xtS
                                        • 18 Nov 2018

                                        xXENDER FREAKXx, 18 Nov 2018HUAWEI implemented NM Card into their recent high-end flags... moreIf they wanted to progress, they should have tried to be the first to implement UHS-II and UHS-III in their smartphones with the promise that they are working on UHS-Express standard which was unveiled early this year by the SD association.

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