I want a thumb drive that actually is (in my thumb). Drives have shrunk to the point where it could be practical to have anywhere from 128MB to 1GB in the first joint of your opposable.

The actual USB socket could be concealed beneath the thumbnail, which would now flip open on a hinge (altogether now.."Eeeugh!")

Such a drive would have several advantages over an external drive: impossible to lose, discrete, more secure.

Practically markets itself as well - "Information at your fingertips" "Knowledge in the palm of your hand" etc.

It might make thumb wars more difficult: "Careful Cynthia, you're crushing Daddy's thumb drive!" but it'd be cool enough to make the sacrifice I think.

USB Thumb Drive: Give Portability Problems The Thumbs Down.
-- DocBrown, Aug 04 2004

Of course, you'd have to learn to work one-handed.
-- yabba do yabba dabba, Aug 04 2004


so i'd have to sit with my thumb attached to the computer whilst trying to transfer files? egads my arms aren't that long!! sorry.
-- Sattamassagana, Aug 04 2004


//egads my arms aren't that long!!// Mine are.

Only how do you open up your damn thumbnail? Do you stab it with a toothpick and try to hit a button inside your thumb? One word:

DOWNGRADE!!!

...

I have three brains.
-- EvilPickels, Aug 04 2004


Well my PC is on the floor over six feet to my right, my arms *aren't* that long.
-- Sattamassagana, Aug 04 2004


It would be most helpful if there was a usb port on the side of the mouse.
-- sartep, Aug 04 2004


Yes, so you could plug your hand straight into the peripheral. That would work.
-- Sattamassagana, Aug 04 2004


Right in order then... [yabba do yabba dabba] No need to learn to work one-handed - your thumb would only be plugged in while uploading/downloading files.

[EvilPickels] The thumbnail will click open in response to downward pressure on its surface, much like those fancy bins I see around the place.

[Sattamassagna] Poor placement of your PC does not constitute a flaw in the original idea! However, taking sartep's suggestion of a port on the mouse would mitigate your concerns. Alternatively, some sort of extension cable could be used.

[Zanzibar] Nice idea, but given the unresolved health concerns connected to exposure to radio devices (mobile phones etc), I wouldn't be first in line to have a radio implanted. Also, using Bluetooth would leave your data open to Bluesnarfing - yoiks!

Right, all criticisms roundly refuted. Kindly change your fishbones into croissants :)
-- DocBrown, Aug 05 2004


Negative, purely because I don't want to wait, thumb connected to PC or mouse, while my data transfers. If it could be done without a physical connection (ultra-low-power transmitter in your thumb, receiver in mouse) then perhaps. That way the signal need only be strong enough to be reliably received a centimetre or so away; nobody's gonna be able to eavesdrop that.
-- david_scothern, Aug 05 2004


Even better -- why not hold a normal USB drive in your hand.

Gives you the additional option of being able to put the drive down.
-- britboy, Aug 05 2004


Of course, it would hurt for weeks after the operation.
-- harderthanjesus, Aug 05 2004


Attention: Norton Anti-Virus has determined your thumb is infected. Please see your doctor.
-- destructionism, Aug 05 2004



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