Sunday, July 21, 2002
The death of SmartMedia, the new XD card?
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 07:00 AM
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0207/02071501xdcardphotoim.asp
Just when you thought it was safe to buy a memory card...some insane company decides it's time to introduce a completely new memory "standard". I suppose it had to happen - we've had a few years of relative peace with most companies united behind CompactFlash. It would seem that Toshiba didn't feel like playing nice with Panasonic, and they've released their own competitor to Secure Digital cards. <sigh> And, for the record, SmartMedia has been dead for a long time - it's just that no one has taken the time to throw some dirt on it.
This is just my own somewhat informed opinion (I'm somewhat of a student of Japanese culture), but we're all the victims of a behaviour deeply rooted in traditional Japanese mentality. Japanese high tech firms are highly competitive, aligning only with others in their keiretsu (a group of partnered companies working towards a common goal, sharing from the strength of each member). To use the technology of another company outside your keiretsu is frowned upon, because it means admitting that they have something that you do not. This is part of the reason Sony created the memory stick - they have no keiretsu, but wanted instead to stand alone and not ally themselves with the technology of another company. Sony is so large, they practically are their own keiretsu. Instead of uniting behind a common standard, Japanese firms will, when possible, employ their own unique technologies in the never-ending game of one-upmanship. Ultimately it's the consumers that suffer through the confusion that results.
"The ever reliable (for leaks) website of the French printed magazine Chasseur d'Images is running a news article about the death of SmartMedia to be replaced by a new card called the XD Picture Card. According to their article this new card will be considerably smaller than SmartMedia, about the same size as an SD card and stiffer. They say that the card will be available in capacities of 128, 256, 512 MB and up to 1 GB with 4 and 8 GB a possibility. The card appears to be manufactured by Toshiba and doesn't contain a controller chip (just like SmartMedia)." Source: Paul P
And if I'm horribly incorrect in my analysis of this aspect of Japanese culture, someone please feel free to set me straight.
Just when you thought it was safe to buy a memory card...some insane company decides it's time to introduce a completely new memory "standard". I suppose it had to happen - we've had a few years of relative peace with most companies united behind CompactFlash. It would seem that Toshiba didn't feel like playing nice with Panasonic, and they've released their own competitor to Secure Digital cards. <sigh> And, for the record, SmartMedia has been dead for a long time - it's just that no one has taken the time to throw some dirt on it.
This is just my own somewhat informed opinion (I'm somewhat of a student of Japanese culture), but we're all the victims of a behaviour deeply rooted in traditional Japanese mentality. Japanese high tech firms are highly competitive, aligning only with others in their keiretsu (a group of partnered companies working towards a common goal, sharing from the strength of each member). To use the technology of another company outside your keiretsu is frowned upon, because it means admitting that they have something that you do not. This is part of the reason Sony created the memory stick - they have no keiretsu, but wanted instead to stand alone and not ally themselves with the technology of another company. Sony is so large, they practically are their own keiretsu. Instead of uniting behind a common standard, Japanese firms will, when possible, employ their own unique technologies in the never-ending game of one-upmanship. Ultimately it's the consumers that suffer through the confusion that results.
"The ever reliable (for leaks) website of the French printed magazine Chasseur d'Images is running a news article about the death of SmartMedia to be replaced by a new card called the XD Picture Card. According to their article this new card will be considerably smaller than SmartMedia, about the same size as an SD card and stiffer. They say that the card will be available in capacities of 128, 256, 512 MB and up to 1 GB with 4 and 8 GB a possibility. The card appears to be manufactured by Toshiba and doesn't contain a controller chip (just like SmartMedia)." Source: Paul P
And if I'm horribly incorrect in my analysis of this aspect of Japanese culture, someone please feel free to set me straight.
