A flash that erases
The name flash reportedly came from a colleague of Masuoka's, because erasing the memory reminded him of a camera flash. Toshiba initially paid little attention; Samsung and Intel later turned it into big business.
SSDs instead of disks
Around 2008 SSDs began replacing hard disks in laptops. The difference is huge: the computer boots in seconds and programs open instantly. Swapping an old disk for an SSD is still the cheapest way to revive an older computer.
Types
- SATA SSD: 2.5-inch format, about 550 MB/s.
- NVMe M.2: a small card directly on the motherboard, several GB/s.
- SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC cells: more bits per cell means a cheaper drive but lower endurance and slower writes.
In 2026 SSDs became noticeably more expensive for the same reason as RAM: factory capacity goes to AI data centres.