Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Having a self-contained, bootable USB stick that you can simply carry around and plug in to any computer is not a new idea. It’s been possible for years. But for some reason, the idea hasn’t gained wide acceptance, despite the clear utility.
Your computer crashes right before the big presentation. No problem; just plug in the USB stick, boot it up, copy the files over and you’re all set. You can fix the computer later. Or your computer is disabled by a virus that you can’t remove. Just run the anti-virus software from the USB stick.
Simple, effective, cheap. Why aren’t more people doing this?
Almost every operating system can be run from a USB stick, on nearly any computer — Windows XP is particularly popular, and some versions of Linux come with a built in utility that allows you to make a bootable USB key with just a few clicks of the mouse button, no advanced skills required.
Now, finally, the idea is beginning to get some traction — with a few modifications.
I’ve written about the Motorola LapDock accessory — you basically carry the phone around; you can plug it into a mini-laptop and the phone provides the processing power to run the show. A new gadget called “Cotton Candy” from a company called FXI Tech takes the idea even further. It has managed to cram a dual-core processor, a quad-core graphics processing unit, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a slot for up to 64 gigabytes of storage into one tiny box the size of a USB key. It’s all powered by Android, the popular Google operating system for smartphones.
It’s got a USB plug on one side and an HDMI video port on the other.
So you can plug this thing into any computer, Macs included, and bam, all of your apps and files are there. But here’s the real kicker: Got a new HDTV, or even just a display with an HDMI port? Plug the HDMI adapter into the TV, grab a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse, and you’ve got yourself a computer on the cheap (relatively speaking). This tiny bundle of electronics is set to cost about $200 — and it should be available sometime next year.
But this thing is so small, and so capable that it’s almost certainly worth the money. You could turn any monitor or TV with an HDMI port (almost every new TV or monitor will have them) into a computer as needed. I can think of five times right off the top of my head where this thing would have saved me either time or money.
Between gizmos like this and the increasing popularity of cloud-augmented devices like the iPad, it’s a distinct possibility that the desktop computer’s days are numbered.