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Comment on Most people don't have boxes of USB flash drives sitting around

remon@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

I guess the storage space of the box isn’t an issue there is no acute reason to throw them way … but feels like hoarding. I see no good reason to keep them.

They are not reliable long-term storage. Any file that I want to retain long term goes on a redundant disk array with data scrubbing and a proper backup.

But even if I were to store something temporarily on an USB stick, I’d just use my single 512GB stick (which costs $40 these days) instead of having to potentially plug in dozens or hundreds of low capacity sticks.

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Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, I throw them away as they break, and I’m not planning to replace them. I just find them incredibly handy as a means of quick and easy data transfer without pissing around with network shares.

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- remon@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  I just find them incredibly handy as a means of quick and easy data transfer without pissing around with network shares.
  
  Yep, that is why I have one on my key chain. But there is really no need to have more than that.
  
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  - Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You do know they have limited write cycles, right? Not getting at you or anything. Just checking. I’ve had a handful flip over to read-only mode over the years, would hate for that to happen to anyone else unexpectedly.
    
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    notarobot@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Doesn’t larger storage mean that it lasts longer since it can better balance wear on the cells?
    
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    remon@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    You do know they have limited write cycles, right?
    
    If you ever reach that limit, well done. You got a hell of value out of that device.
    
    I have SSDs that are in use 24/7, writing up to 200GB per day and in constant use for 3 years. 99% drive health.
    
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- Prathas@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  pissing around with network shares.
  
  What? Why is that a concern when we have tools like Transfer, Mozilla Send instances, etc.? I literally even just use Bluetooth at times.
  
  I once had a USB flash drive break because the exterior detached from the rest of the body in the housing by, like, 1mm while pulling it out; all the files on it were instantly, permanently lost. I will never again use physical file-transfering that involves frequent insertion and removal if I can avoid it (a drive that is always connected is totally fine, though).
  
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