By Raymond Solone
Director, Corporate Marketing

Every day we take for granted countless technology-enabled actions that only five or ten years ago would have populated the pages of science fiction books. We think nothing of shooting a video with our cell phone and sharing it with millions of people on YouTube. When we are out of town, we check our satellite navigator to find the best place for sushi. Both of these actions would not have been feasible even as recently as 2000.

Electronics have made incredible progress in a very short span of time and none of this would have been possible were it not for the progress that Non-Volatile Memories (NVMs) – Flash Memories in particular - have made in enabling such advances.

For those less versed in technology, Flash Memory is a kind of computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is the technology primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products. Examples of applications include laptop computers and PDAs, digital audio players, game consoles, digital cameras and mobile phones. It is also embedded in many electronic devices including automotive and industrial components.

Flash memory is non-volatile, which means that it does not need power to maintain the information stored in the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times, lower power consumption and better shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices. Another feature of flash memory is that when packaged in a "memory card," it is enormously durable, able to withstand intense pressure, extremes of temperature and immersion in water.

Modern electronics, content rich software and the convergence between IT and telecommunications are all extremely memory intensive and have all been made possible by the huge advances that have been made in the capacity, quality and reliability of modern flash memory systems. Memory works so smoothly with the systems and devices in which it is deployed, that the end user does not even notice it is there.

Yet, if flash memories suddenly disappeared from modern workplaces and homes, our typical day would become much different – and frustrating.

Before leaving home, we would start by firing up a mobile phone, only to find out the entire address book has been wiped out. We would then go to start the car, but see that its electronic circuitry would not respond, the engine management system would not be able to control the vehicle, and we would be left stranded.

We decide to catch a cab to work, but in orderto pay for it, we need to money from the ATM at the nearest bank. Unfortunately, neither the cash point nor the card is operative.

It’s still quite early and already it looks like it’s going to be “one of those days.” As we start walking to the bus stop, we turn on the iPod, but Bruce Springsteen is not available to fire up our enthusiasm. As we laboriously reach work, we find out the security system cannot read our ID, or anybody else’s for that matter, and the security officer has to let us in one by one through the visitor’s door.

When we reach our desk, at least our PC is working, but many peripherals are silent, and our PDA not only cannot synchronize data with the PC, but has actually no more data stored in it. Throughout the day, we find we have to fall back to traditional, often paper-based, data archives, using far more time than usual and getting probably half the tasks done that we should have been performing.

In short, our productivity has been badly hindered by our day without flash memory: we got into work late, had to work after hours and still did not get through all we had set out to do. The only consolation is that our colleague from marketing will be forced to cancel the tedious viewing of the “sensational” digital pictures he took in Maui…