I remember that awkward period after we outgrew floppies but before USB flash storage became mainstream when CD-RW and CD+RW (Yes there was a difference and it mattered!) being peddled as the next portable storage format. My first USB stick was 128 megabytes and cost around $60. I actually still have it, but it may no longer work. I believe I bought it in around 2003 or 2004. I remember them steadily decreasing in price, or at least price per unit storage, very quickly over the ensuing years, to the point where they were giving away multi-gig sticks by around 2009 or 2010.
I remember it was 8MB.
I had zip disks with more storage so I hated using it since even at the time it was small, but, needed to get files to/from school and 8MB compared to a floppy was crazy huge!
I think it was 1987, but we called them floppy discs at the time.
I had one of these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbtSLaxP1scI remember when we called those little USB devices dongles. And before flash drives, there were Zip drives. We’ve come a long way from floppy disks!
Some USB devices are still called “dongles”. USB Bluetooth and Wi-Fi dongles, for example.
2002
I had a 32 MB one I bought for about $35.
I also had a 32 MB MP3 player. That was considered adequate, but not “a lot” at the time.
I had an mp3 player in 2003 that was basically just a usb stick with a minijack, two buttons, and a volume control. When inserted into what was essentially a battery case, it worked as an mp3 player. When inserted into my PC it worked as a USB drive. I loved the simplicity, and in a pinch I could use it for other files too.
128MB, iirc
I had a similar one. The earphones it came with were specifically designed to act as a strap as well so you can hang the mp3 player around your neck.
Every time I flash Linux or a BIOS update onto a new computer. I can’t think of another use case other than OS installs. Most file transfers are easier through the cloud and if it’s really large where that would be slow/expensive/inconvenient then you’re usually using a hard drive or ssd.
I think it was 16MB or 32MB.
I’ve had it in my desk for decades and occasionally use it. It’s pretty slow and small, but for many files, that’s fine. Never had any shennanigans from it.
I think that the move to USB-C is going to finally kill it, though. I’ve got a 128GB USB-C drive that I carry with me now.
I didn’t use them much until I moved out. Up until then, I burned CD’s if I really needed something portable. PortableApps changed my workflow. I could plug that into a computer at the computer lab at college, and have my custom portable FireFox (pretty new at the time still) as well as OpenOffice, MediaMonkey and some others. I don’t recall how much I paid for the drive, but I think it was 256MB? This was around 2005.
I worked my way through college at my university computer lab (97-01). We went ALL IN on zip drives, so that’s what I used as my high capacity (lol) storage for longer than I should have (through maybe 2004-ish when the last drive died). Still have a bunch of disks around here somewhere. So…soon after that was my switch to thumb drives.
My first flash drive was $40 for 32 MB. I got at Fry’s around 2001. I still have it and show it youngn’s for a laugh. I tell them it’s the only one I’ve never lost because it’s the right size - about half the size of a flat pack of gum.
Flash drives I have no idea, but I remember when we ditched those fuckin Mouse Cables for “high speed” USB 2.0 in the early 2000s and it felt really good.
