History
The Microdrive was developed and launched in 1999 by IBM with a capacity of 170 MB. Capacity expanded to 8 GB by 2006. They weigh about 16 g (~1/2 oz), with dimensions of 42.8×36.4×5mm (1.7×1.4×.2in). They were the smallest hard drives in the world at the time. From 1999 to 2003, they were known as IBM Microdrives, and from 2003 as Hitachi Microdrives, after Hitachi bought IBM's hard drive division. Microdrive was a registered trademark by IBM and Hitachi for each period.
IBM initially released 170 MB and 340 MB models. The next year, 512 MB and 1 GB models became available. In December 2002 Hitachi bought IBM's disk drive business, including the Microdrive technology and brand. By 2003, 2GB models were introduced. Over the years, larger sizes have become available. There are licensed branded Sony models called Sony Microdrive. These are re-badged Hitachi units.
In 2004, Seagate launched 2.5 and 5 GB models, and tends to refer to them as either 1-inch hard drives, or CompactFlash hard drives due to the trademark issue. In 2005 Seagate launched an 8 GB model. Seagate also sold a standalone consumer product based on these drives with a product known as the Pocket Hard Drive. These devices came in the shape of a hockey puck with an integrated USB2.0 cable.
In 2004, a Chinese manufacturer called GS Magic started marketing small form factor HDDs for CF. They were sued by Hitachi for patent infringement of the IBM design (as opposed to Seagate, which used its own technology).
As of July 2012, no manufacturers seem to be making Microdrives.
Read more about this topic: Microdrive
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)