I am Awash in Memory

This weekend was a hectic one for Milady and I. She had decided that she needed her own computer at home, in part because our original computer (now "my" computer) was getting old and slow. In fact, the problem with the old computer was merely that it needed more RAM. Originally, it had a 256 meg RAM chip in it; also, a number of non-vital programs running in the background were filling up the cache to about 80% of its capacity. So we bought Milady her computer, got a nice 1 gig RAM chip for my computer, deleted a bunch of the background programs (the cache is now running at about 20% of capacity), and bought a wireless network for the home. (We also bought a 10 megapixel 35mm SLR camera, but that's another story.)

While we were running around getting computer stuff, I bought another thumb drive for myself and Milady. These were 4 gig SanDisks; price: S$55. I bring this up because I am continually amazed at how the price of memory keeps falling (and, of course, as it falls, I keep buying). My very first thumb drive was a 128 meg Sony, bought in 2003. (The memory chip itself was OK, but the casing ultimately broke open - piece of crap.) The price of that particular thumb drive seems to have etched on to my mind for some reason. It cost me S$88. Now, do a little math and we calculate that in today's market, a chip for a mere 128 meg should now cost S$1.72. Isn't that amazing? $1.72 is only 2% of $88. Two years ago, I saw a 4 gig "mini hard drive" available for sale. It cost about S$300 (I didn't buy it). Since last October, I've bought three thumb drives. (I tend to buy the largest amount of memory I can reasonably afford, not necessarily the largest amount of memory available on the market.) The first thumb drive was 1 gig; the next was 2 gig; now I've got a 4 gig thumb drive. (I suppose we'll start seeing 8 gig thumb drives in the not too distant future, insha'allah.) Those three thumb drives are in addition to all the other thumb drives I have at home; I saw three of those old thumb drives this morning in my bedroom and I think I've got two more... somewhere.

I am awash in memory.