September
1999, Issue 110
Get
Smart Media—(Part
1):
What's
It All About?
by
Jeff Bachiochi
Pull
a chair up to the bench as Jeff discusses the makeup
of SmartMedia—one of the newest forms of nonvolatile
storage. Who uses it? What makes it so different?
With Jeff, we'll see the whole picture.
I've
always liked a challenge. I’m sure it started a
long time ago, when I was much younger. In those days
I took things apart—not to fix them, but to discover
the magic held within. A toaster, a record changer,
a typewriter—whatever I found sticking out of the
neighbors’ trash, calling to me for help. In those
early years, the patients that entered my operating
room usually left as cadavers.
Once
in a while, the items I found had been discarded in
near-perfect working order. At that time it was more
important to gain insight into the mechanics than to
resurrect an item of potential value.
Eventually,
I began to pay more attention to the order of disassembly.
This provided a path which did not end with discovery,
but continued on toward renewal and recycling.
Although
I don’t pick through the neighbors’ trash
anymore, I’m still curious. Any new appliance or
toy that comes through our front door must first make
it by my set of dissecting tools. Damn the warranty—full
speed ahead!
