• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer

Technologies.org

Technology Trends: Follow the Money

  • Sponsored Post
    • Make a Contribution
  • Technology Events 2022-2023
  • Technology Domains
  • Technology Markets
  • Venture Capital
  • Contact
    • About

Why does the wireless hard drive cost three times more than its wired brother?

October 2, 2017 By Technologies.org Leave a Comment

The principle of separating content from design goes long way, from web development to information retrieval. As Wikipedia wraps it nicely “it is a specific instance of the more general philosophy, separation of concerns”. I have full heartedly embraced “separation of concerns” principle in my working habits. All my data (about 1TB of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and photos) are stored at the external hard drive, never at the desktop, laptop, smartphone. I do regular backups from my primary external hard drive to a couple of spare hard drives and cloud. The separation solves the problem of data loss with desktop/laptop/smartphone gone sore. The separation makes it a breath to switch from one computing device to another, with one exception – smartphone as a replacement of desktop which brings me to another topic.

Why does the wireless hard drive cost three times more than its wired brother?

Two the most influential mobile companies in the world, Google and Apple, want to keep us locked forever in their infrastructure. They want us to use their clouds with all their associated services. Gone are days when early smartphones had their own micro USB data access, extractable memory card, micro HDMI. Not any more, mobile companies send a message, actually quite a few of them:

  • cloud is the only hard drive you need;
  • if you need more memory on your device, buy more expensive model. Slot for extractable flash memory card violates holistic purity of mobile device;
  • if you need to connect your smartphone to a larger display, figure out something on your own – we are not ready, it’s a small ripple in the sea of IoT.

Well, that leaves me three options:

  • OTG cable, not an easy way that requires root access;
  • cloud which brings me to the problem of asymmetric access (fast downstream, slow upstream);
  • and finally wireless hard drive which seems the most obvious solution, preserving the same convenient “separation of concerns” mode of work.

How much cost the regular wired portable external hard drives? Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STEA1000400) or WD 1TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive – USB 3.0 – WDBUZG0010BBK-EESN, selling at about $50 at Amazon.

How much cost their wireless brethren? Seagate Wireless Plus 1TB Portable Hard Drive with Built-in WiFi (STCK1000100) – $141 and WD 1TB My Passport Wireless Portable External Hard Drive – WIFI USB 3.0 – WDBK8Z0010BBK-NESN – $145. About three times more. Both wireless hard drives in my example are WiFi devices only, no Bluetooth. Either WiFi or Bluetooth chip (including integration) should not cost more than $5-$10 in mass production. Why three times? It’s easy, to rob us blind because we allow it. We lost ability to see simple small truths behind the smoke wall of glorifying tech terms: cloud, IoT, connected world. It’s not about connected world, it’s about charging three times more for the same essential commodity.

Related

Filed Under: Tech Tagged With: connected world, connectivity, device connectivity, hard disk drive, HDD, innovation, Internet of Things, ioT, mobile, Seagate, smartphone, wireless hard drive

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Infinitum Electric Raises $80M in Series D Funding Led by Riverstone Holdings to Scale Production of Sustainable Motors
  • Introducing IonQ Forte, Improving Quantum Performance with a Software-Configurable Dynamic Laser System
  • Cloudflare Unveils New SQL Database Offering
  • Cloudflare announces Workers for Platforms
  • Intel is rolling out new processors designed for data centers
  • EU moves to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels
  • A New Hydrogen-Powered Behemoth
  • BAE Systems to Bring Next-Generation Electric Drive System to Heavy-Duty Industrial Vehicle Market
  • MEMS Speakers Are Replacing Balanced Armature Speakers
  • Trends in data and analytics

Media Partners

  • VPNW
  • S3H
  • OPINT
  • Press Media Release
  • OSINT
  • Digital Market
  • Briefly

Media Partners

  • Technology Conferences
  • Event Sharing Network
  • Defense Conferences
  • Cybersecurity Events
  • Event Calendar
  • Calendarial
  • Opinion
  • Venture Capital

Copyright © 2015 Technologies.org

Technologies, Market Analysis & Market Research Reports

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT