06-29-2017, 10:56 AM
I'd disagree with much of what has been said above.
SD cards are ubiquitous and the end of them is nowhere in sight - they're being used in cameras, portable players, satnavs and whatnot (smartphones/tablets if you count those using microSD and factor in the simple mechanical adapter), and it's great to have the same type of media everywhere. That every laptop on the planet has a SD slot is a bonus - USB ports are few on today's laptops, and not having to waste one of those to add a reader (which tends to get lost anyway) is a great bonus too. I am using MicroSD cards in my camera (adapted to SD) even though I could have used CF in theory and I don't miss the latter one iota; enough that I bent these damn pins once in a card reader and had to straighten it using cosmetic pincers - I would never be sure that the reader was going to work well after that.
I would not want a smartphone that does not accept microSD cards at the very least. My old phone accepts them (but only up to 32 GB; fair enough since my camera has the same limitation) so I can quickly send the pictures over from the field if the need arises. Jerry rigging USB-OTG connection, while possible, is never handy; my phone doesn't accept all readers this way, and just plugging in the camera results in having to use the Google camera import utility that is as stone age as it gets (I'm using Canon and they clearly don't want to implement normal USB Mass Storage protocol in their cameras).
I don't see any problem in cameras sticking with USB 2.0 protocol. Who in their right mind would use straight USB to transfer files when there's the way of a reader? (unless in dire need or, indeed, you just happened to forget the reader somewhere - but as I had said above, every laptop has a SD slot so if your camera uses SD, you can't leave the reader somewhere even if you want to).
A few new formats have been spawned lately but how much traction have they got? Next to none; only a few select stills cameras, mostly on the high end, are using the CFast or XQD. The few redundant side formats like MS or XD have died out, though, and I cannot but welcome that.
I expect Lexar to be bought out by someone. Why would Micron want to kill the business outright? That doesn't make economic sense.
SD cards are ubiquitous and the end of them is nowhere in sight - they're being used in cameras, portable players, satnavs and whatnot (smartphones/tablets if you count those using microSD and factor in the simple mechanical adapter), and it's great to have the same type of media everywhere. That every laptop on the planet has a SD slot is a bonus - USB ports are few on today's laptops, and not having to waste one of those to add a reader (which tends to get lost anyway) is a great bonus too. I am using MicroSD cards in my camera (adapted to SD) even though I could have used CF in theory and I don't miss the latter one iota; enough that I bent these damn pins once in a card reader and had to straighten it using cosmetic pincers - I would never be sure that the reader was going to work well after that.
I would not want a smartphone that does not accept microSD cards at the very least. My old phone accepts them (but only up to 32 GB; fair enough since my camera has the same limitation) so I can quickly send the pictures over from the field if the need arises. Jerry rigging USB-OTG connection, while possible, is never handy; my phone doesn't accept all readers this way, and just plugging in the camera results in having to use the Google camera import utility that is as stone age as it gets (I'm using Canon and they clearly don't want to implement normal USB Mass Storage protocol in their cameras).
I don't see any problem in cameras sticking with USB 2.0 protocol. Who in their right mind would use straight USB to transfer files when there's the way of a reader? (unless in dire need or, indeed, you just happened to forget the reader somewhere - but as I had said above, every laptop has a SD slot so if your camera uses SD, you can't leave the reader somewhere even if you want to).
A few new formats have been spawned lately but how much traction have they got? Next to none; only a few select stills cameras, mostly on the high end, are using the CFast or XQD. The few redundant side formats like MS or XD have died out, though, and I cannot but welcome that.
I expect Lexar to be bought out by someone. Why would Micron want to kill the business outright? That doesn't make economic sense.