I never have a memory stick when I need one.

Clearly, that is an outrageous exaggeration, but nevertheless I seldom have one at hand. I have a couple of sticks which I use often, but they get left in random places and it always takes me a few minutes to find them. I can't leave them plugged into my laptop, because they'd stick out and snap off; also, I may not want them plugged in all the time.

So.

Why not make a little nest for sleeping memory sticks? I know space is precious on a laptop, but I'd like a little recess (it could be on the underside) with a "dummy" USB socket, where I can park a memory stick safely when it's not in use, and when I don't want it actually plugged in. The recess would just have to be big enough to accommodate most normal sticks.

Blimey. So many words, so little idea.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 28 2010

Messy.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 28 2010


It's not such a bad idea. A bit sensible for me, but anyway, I have an 8Gb memory stick on my key-ring, that is the size of and shape of a key. La Cie make them. You might like to get one of these.
-- xenzag, Mar 01 2010


Got one. But somehow it always manage to be in some region of spacetime which is not the same as my laptop. If you have a laptop, almost the only time you use a stick is to transfer data to or from it. So, if the laptop is involved in the process, it makes sense to park the stick on the laptop.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 01 2010


I like the idea of a little storage space in the laptop, no matter what it is for. Spare key, mints, extra bullets . . .

I suggest making the "dummy" socket a working one. A recessed socket would keep the stick in use from getting knocked off. Plus, I find it handy to have a stick in my computer at all times, both to back up files, and to bounce stuff in and out without risking accidental deletion while drag-and-drop copying. And some OSs like having an extra drive for expansion.
-- baconbrain, Mar 01 2010


Maybe the laptop should come with a pen drive semi-permanently attached to it, that can be removed by flipping a little plastic tab much like the one that holds the battery in. When in place, it would plug into a special USB socket shaped to match it; when removed from the laptop it could be plugged into a USB port on any other PC.

This is eminently bakeable.
-- Wrongfellow, Mar 01 2010


Taking a page from the old CD changers of yore, why not have a rotary device which remembers which USB memory sticks are in which position, and "plugs them in" (physically or electrically) as needed?

New sticks would be detected and logged as necessary.
-- csea, Mar 01 2010



random, halfbakery