Custom USB flash drives have been an integral part of schools, companies and individuals’ way of storing, transporting and managing data, documents, videos, music and much more. Having superseded the compact floppy disks with increased reliability, the USB stick is easier to use than storing on the cloud. USB flash drives are still used extensively in various industries and sectors. But do you know everything about your trustworthy USB stick?
While we all know that USB flash drives are small, nifty, reliable gadgets that we can easily implement into our everyday life. They are easy to take from one place to another with all the files and information you may need.
However, while the majority of the UK’s population probably has at least one USB flash drive either in the office or at home, we aren’t all aware of their full capabilities! This is why, as USB flash drive specialists, we have put together a list of interesting facts about what your underused branded USB is capable of!
USB flash drives, also referred to as memory sticks, key drives, pen drives, thumb drives or even jump drives. While many of these names have fallen out of everyday vocabulary, they may still be referred to in certain circumstances.
Here at Flash UK, we have a range of product names that the universal USB stick falls under, including:
The USB flash drive was first invented by Amir Ban, Dov Moran and Oron Ogden, who all worked for the Israeli tech company, M-Systems, in 1999. The idea was to connect additional memory to computers without adding additional software or drivers. Find out more about the history of the USB flash drive in our blog post: ‘a brief history of the USB stick’.
A year after M-Systems invented the first version of the now iconic USB flash drive, Trek Technology and IBM were the first companies to begin selling USBs to the public. Starting with the 1.0 version, before being upgraded to 1.1 in 2000.
These first flash drives could store around 128MB of data and cost on average around $30. Now, our range of USB flash drives can store up to 128GB of data at a fraction of the price!
Since their invention, the USB’s capabilities have continued to improve and grow, with new science and technology developing alongside it, encouraging the development of the product.
One of the main developments of the USB flash drive over the years has been its memory capacity, as previously mentioned, the original USB did not have large memory capabilities. Nowadays, the highest capacity for a USB flash drive is 2TB – which roughly equates to 34,000 hours of songs, 80 days of video and 620000 photos!
Yes, you read that right! You can load Windows 10 from your USB flash drive. If you’ve not yet upgraded your windows PC (where have you been?), you can quickly and easily upgrade your desktop windows. Find out more here.
Do you have sensitive and secure information stored on your USB flash drive? Did you know that you can encrypt your files to keep your documents safe, secure and private? Our wide range of USB flash drives, including our popular metal USBs and wooden USBs, allows you to keep your data and information safe wherever you are. For more information about keeping your files safe, see our blog post: ‘securely back-up your data with custom USBs from Flash UK’.
Between 2016 and 2017, North Korean defectors shipped thousands of USB flash drives to the country. These flash drives contained a vast quantity of banned materials, including: South Korean soaps, Hollywood films and information about the outside world with global news stories.
This was one of the biggest influxes of outside information into North Korea, the campaign: ‘Flash Drives For Freedom’ was organised by the Human Rights Foundation, and over 10,000 USB Flash Drives were donated to the organisation and have been handed out to the North Korean population.
In the world of information technology, computer virus, malware and more, it is incredibly important to take precautions when inputting USBs into your computer systems. A study taken at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois found that on average university students failed to take precautions when plugging abandoned USBs into their computers and laptops.
The study dropped USB sticks, containing HTML files with embedded tags, in a local university car park. They found that 48% of the discarded USB flash drives were picked up and plugged into a PC and 68% of those failed to take safety precautions or scans. Learn more about schools’ and universities‘ USB sticks here.
Most USB flash drives weigh less than 30grams, making them easy to carry and transport. While lightweight, your USB flash drive could contain important information, data and files, which, if lost, could be detrimental. Thanks to the lightweight properties of the USB flash drive, you can easily attach them to your keys, store them in your wallet, or carry them in your pocket. So your trusty USB is always with you.
Flash UK’s USB flash drives are long-lasting and durable computer accessories. With a ten-year guarantee and immunity to electromagnetic interference, your USB flash drive will continue to work for many years to come, regardless of how many surface scratches or bumps they receive! As long as the connection port remains unharmed.
If you want to find out more about our wide range of USB flash drives and how they can benefit your business and our wide range of products, see our blog posts: ‘Flash UK’s newest personalised USB stick arrivals’ and ‘branded flash drives – 5 ways they can benefit your business. ’
Now that you are thinking about the USB flash drive from a new perspective, you may want to invest in your very own! At Flash UK, we mass supply USB sticks for all your personal and business requirements.
Whether you need a promotional USB stick for your advertising and marketing campaign, or a batch of unique custom flash drives for an event or conference, we provide high-quality USBs at competitive prices.
Get in touch today by emailing sales@flashuk.com or call us on 01896 750536. We look forward to hearing from you!
