Hard Disk Sector Consolidates Amid Uncertain Future 237
Hugh Pickens writes writes "The WSJ reports that Western Digital will buy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for about $4.3 billion in cash and stock, leaving only four key hard disk drive vendors — Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba and Samsung. The hard drive world has been seen as ripe for consolidation, particularly as the rise of tablet computers such as the Apple iPad — which don't use hard drives for data storage — is casting doubt on the future of hard disks. Compared to hard drives, solid-state drives promise greater power efficiency, performance, resistance to physical shock, and run more quietly since they contain no moving parts. But one area that solid-state drives do not improve on their spinning predecessors is in their inevitable movement towards failure. 'SSDs are going to fail just like hard drives will,' says Chris Bross, Senior Enterprise Recovery engineer at Drivesavers Data Recovery. 'Every storage device will have issues regardless of their underlying technology.'"
Ehh (Score:3, Informative)
This isn't all that different from when Seagate bought Maxtor [slashdot.org]. Back then, after the sale, Seagate controlled 44% of the market [arstechnica.com], compared to nearly 50 percent market share which this deal has bestowed upon Western Digital [wsj.com].
Re:So... (Score:2, Informative)
Sold to Toshiba, Oct 2009.
http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/storage/hdd/
Re:Not saying anything new (Score:4, Informative)
You can make a light bulb that never dies, never as described by lifespan of a human being. These can even be made from filament - just have it at a lower power so it glows dim red, instead of bright white. 10-9 tor vacuum would also help.
But if you want real white light "light bulb", you can make light bulb from plasma in a sealed container exited by external electromagnetic field. The light bulb itself is just gas in a hermetically sealed glass container. There is nothing to burn out. The lifespan of the device is the lifespan of the external electrical components, and these can be decades.
Or a LED light bulb. Lasts "forever" if properly designed.
But no one wants to buy a $500 light bulb. People would rather spend $1 every year and replace any broken ones.