Most people don't have boxes of USB flash drives sitting around
I have a box of assorted 1GB and 4GB USB drives.
Funny how stuff you've had for years just feels "normal" even when it's highly unusual.
How else can I have live ISOs of various Linux distros at the ready?
It's annoying, a lot of them are more than 4GB now :(
I just download whatever i see that is interesting off distrowatch and drop it on my ventoy usb, alongside whatever I need backed up (also on google drive just in case, since idk how reliable a usb with ventoy on it is for data)
Never know when you're going to need one on a new moon on the ides of march formatted to apple_HFS to update the firmware on your cousins 2004 pioneer in-dash dvd player
also it has to be 4 gig USB 1.1
I have an old dbrand phone case sitting in my dresser that holds all my flash drives. They're all various sizes from 4GB to 32GB and are filled with different Linux and Windows ISOs. They were supplanted by a 128GB drive with Ventoy.
Those make me strangely nostalgic. I really want sticks with single digit GBs. I have one 1GB stick left, none with 2 or 4, one with 8 and then we're at 32 already....
Oh and I remember my very first one with 64MB
Shoot I had some that were 4 to 16 MB. Might still have in a drawer?
My favorite was a tiny steel one that was 32 MB. Tough as nails and small enough to keep in a back pocket.
I still have megabyte usb sticks lol. I think I have one 32gb and a 64gb but the rest are all megabyte sticks.
I needed an SD card for a new recorder I picked up and only probably needed a 32GB. Smallest option at the store was 128 for $25 and $30 for 256. I went with the 256 just because I could.
Storage is practically free these days. I’m sure you could find an eBay listing for like 100 of the cheap ones for $10.
Not in the entire world, unfortunately :(
I just have boxes of defunct cables.
Oh, I have one of those too, but I suspect that's more common even amongst non-computer users.
I have my usb in a cute little semi transparent sack.
It makes me feel like a fairy, but instead of start dust I pour unknown linux distros (because I don't label them).
I never get rid of usb drives. Small ones are still great for docs.
… most do. USB drives have been handed out like candy at every professional conference I have been to for decades.
Most people do not go to professional conferences, though
Yes they do
Not anymore, and anyone who does should be disciplined.
Users disciplined? BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Have you ever actually worked in IT Security?
I feel attacked! I have a ziplock bag of assorted USB thumb drives!
Is this ironic? They have been very common gadgets and regularly become trivially cheap gadget at increzing sized through the years.
It's a fair bet virtualy everybody have those lying around.
Most people aren't heavy computer users like the average Lemmy user.
"But I'm not most people." Windows USB mount sound
Edit: small correction - picture the Windows USB mount sound being "presented" as the TXH logo. It's a John Woo action flick.
I detest USB flash drives. Most unreliable form of data storage I've ever owned.
Back when we were excited to have an 8MB SD card in our phones, I had a bunch of those laying around.
I keep mine in a drawer :3.. most of them are just various ISOs
I have an eyeglass case with 6 or 7. Rarely used anymore.
I had to check but yes, mine start at 128 MB
Well yeah, because why would you need boxed of them?
I have 512GB on my key chain.
I remember using 512MB MP3 player for storing files next to the music before pendrives got reasonable prices
EDIT: Found it! Creative MP3 Player MuVo TX FM
It was so cool to own one of these. You could listen to your music anywhere. Only had to rip the CD into MP3s
holy shit I think I had that same one! It held like 5 albums. I loved it so much!
You don't NEED them you just have them and have no reason to throw them away. I use them for two things:
I guess the storage space of the box isn't an issue there is no acute reason to throw them way ... but it 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 want 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.