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USB Stick, iPod/iPhone...or both!

USB Stick, iPod/iPhone...or both?

  • I have just a USB Stick

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I have just an iPod/iPhone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I have both! Yes, I'm THAT tech-savvy...

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I have Neither!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Ben

CF Legend
Wait, people still use USB sticks? :S

Am I the only one who was NEVER able to find a practical use for them?

But, myPod <3
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
I have both.

I would argue that my USB stick is more important as it's more work related. My iPod is only for fun, serving little or no actual purpose.
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Just as well we are talking about importance then lol.

Out of curiousity though Hixee.. Which do you use more then? (Irrespective of importance)
 

Ploddish

Hyper Poster
Both. iPod I don't really use that often now - just for journeys, and only then for music.

Flash drive for transferring anything from anywhere to anywhere else. Completely invaluable to me day to day, but I am doing a CompSci degree, and work on my laptop, which isn't connected to the Uni print network, so eh.
 

Martyn

Giga Poster
I have two iPods and about ten USB sticks.

Ben said:
Wait, people still use USB sticks? :S

Am I the only one who was NEVER able to find a practical use for them?

Do some bloody work.
 

tks

Strata Poster
People use iPods for storing files on..? This is news to me. At uni I used a USB thing for all my work, or I just emailed it home.

I just use my iPod for music and the occasional video I suppose. Although why anyone would want to stare at a TINY screen to watch a film is beyond me.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Okay, time to wade in here :lol:

I have both. I use my iPod for... MUSIC!!!

I use my memory stick (actually, I have a few floating about, but I tend to use USB powered HDD's for large items) for WORK. My personal memory stick has a bunch of anti-virus/anti-spyware software on it I use for fixing people's computers when they complain about them being slow (hint - you went on porn without protection ;) . I also have a few bits of work software we use - just in case I don't have internet or VPN access.

Why I don't use an iPod at work? It's illegal

As soon as you plug an iPod into a work's PC (or college PC), you are breaking the law. The license agreement for you having a piece of music does not allow you to transfer ownership of that music to another body.

As soon as you connect the iPod to a PC, you are classed as transferring ownership, as that PC can access the music stored there. Likewise, you're not allowed to have music you own on a work's PC - even if it's a laptop work provide for you. This also goes for ringtones on a company mobile phone. If your work didn't buy it, then it can't be on or attached to, work/college equipment.

If Customs and Excise came into your work Marc, and found that your staff had personal iPods plugged into the PC's - they have the right to confiscate the PC and iPod and take the company to court. So to be honest, I'm shocked your IT department let people plug in their iPods. Here, if you're caught, it's a disciplinary action against you.

This is a really sticky area of the law. It's not 100% clear, and I don't think anyone has actually been taken to court over it yet - but I think it would certainly be held against you if your company was being investigated by FAST/BSA and customs were involved.

As I said at the start, time to wade in :)

Of course, the chances of ever being caught are slim to non-existent - but as a company, you have a duty to show that you are doing what you can to stop piracy.

So I have both, and each is used specifically for their purpose. iPod for music, memory stick for transfer of data.

Of course, for transfer of data between different offices or home - I'll use email, FTP or just the VPN :p
 

Emmett

Giga Poster
I use a couple of USB sticks mainly for transferring files from my work pc to my home one. And also for transfering stuff to my friends laptop.

I never knew you could use an mp3 player to transfer other files.
 

marc

CF Legend
Furie we dont plug iPods into our pcs at work. Work have bought iPhones now and people are plugging these in though.

That has caused a grey area big time.

The iPhone is owner by work and you need iTunes to sync the phone. But people have started to put music on these phones via the work pc. As a result music is now on the network, not sure what they are going to do about that.

The rule at work is you can not use your own USB stick, you have to use one provided by the company. I dont use them anyway, I work on Unix.

I have used my iPod at home though to back files up and move them from one pc to another. When the next iPod has bluetooth I can see more people using them as a storage device.

The whole point of this poll though was due to the gadget show. I said the iPod should have won gadget of the decade and Cial said the USB stick. So far the poll has shown out of 17 people only 6 just own a USB stick which backs up what I was saying.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I may agree with Ciall.

Things are different now, but when memory sticks first came out, they revolutionised the way we could work with data. While they're not so much use in the latter part of the decade with such ubiquitous MP3 player use, they were still very important when they arrived.

The iPod didn't do anything new, it just did something another device was doing it, only in a different way.

So, the Memory Stick was the most important of the two. However, I think that in terms of which was the best "gadget" (in terms of something cool, useful and desirable) the iPod is a hands down winner. It started off as a slightly advanced MP3 player, and has become a real multi-function device. It's stepped outside the original design remit and become something else. The synergy of MP3 player, games, desktop software, applications and phone make the iPod (and by default iPod Touch and iPhone) the new paradigm for how a gadget should successfully develop.

I hope you all had your buzzword bingo cards out there? ;)
 

Ben

CF Legend
Martyn said:
Ben said:
Wait, people still use USB sticks? :S

Am I the only one who was NEVER able to find a practical use for them?

Do some bloody work.

I do! I've just always been fortunate to go to educational establishments which have email!
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I have an USB stick, and an MP3 player.

The MP3 player is used for music. Listening. Earphones and stuff.

The USB stick is more frequently used. Transferring documents without having to upload, portable Firefox on the stupid IE7-infested school PCs, and backup. Nice and easy.
 

ciallkennett

Strata Poster
Well, here are the results so far:

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Which collates to 14 with a usb stick, and 13 with an iPod/iPhone.

I'm winning...just :p
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
I have a few USB sticks knocking about, one of which I use constantly for home/work/school stuff.

There are two computers that I use at home, then the uni computers, then a bunch of different computers in school that I use, pretty much, every class for PowerPoint etc. I could use e-mail, but I find it easier to just stick it in and go without the hassle of log-ins, passwords, internet connection etc.

I don't have an iPod, but I do have an mp3 player. I only use that for listening to music though since it's only 2GB and it's always full.
 

Jake

Strata Poster
Ben said:
Martyn said:
Ben said:
Wait, people still use USB sticks? :S

Am I the only one who was NEVER able to find a practical use for them?

Do some bloody work.

I do! I've just always been fortunate to go to educational establishments which have email!

Haha yeah, plus, sending emails to yourself is fab :).
 
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