Until recently we had to depend on bulky floppies, zip disks and CDs to store all our digital data - not a great fit in our increasingly mobile lifestyle. However, with the emergence of the incredibly compact USB flash drive, you can now fit a world of data in the palm of your hand. USB flash drives are small, plastic devices that connect to your computer via a USB port with the capacity to write and copy data from an internal flash memory chip. They are similar in function to your computer's hard drive, but provide you with the freedom of portability. Another key advantage of a USB flash drive is that they can maintain data for as many as ten years, far greater than the lifespan of most hard drives. Attach one of these tiny devices to your key ring, put it in your pocket and take a world of information with you wherever you go. To use this revolutionary device, simply insert the USB flash drive into an available USB port and drag files to and from the drive. Your computer will recognize your USB flash drive as an external drive, and allow you to drag and drop data from the USB flash drive window. The only difference among USB flash drives is storage capacity, transfer speed (determined by the type of USB Connectivity - USB 1.1 or USB 2.0) and appearance such as size, shape and color. If you prefer a drive that is more functional, you can get an MP3 flash drive player that not only stores data but can also allocate space to hold and play your favorite tunes.