It’s not the normal time to make predictions, but I feel like it’s time to make one: 2007 is going to be the year of the solid state hard drive–particularly for UMPC owners.
Most people probably won’t have them by the close of 2007–they’ll be too expensive for most, but my guess is that many UMPC early adopters will start transitioning over.
I’ve been thinking about picking up a new UMPC for demo purposes, for instance, and it struck me that a solid state drive might be a perfect match. I don’t need a huge drive; I just want one that’s fast and robust. Yes, cost is a concern, but if I can keep the drive size down, I imagine a solid state drive would fit into the budget.
We’ll have to see if the manufacturers can keep up with the growing demand over the next year. If not, prices will probably stay too high and the technology may not spread as fast. However, if the prices fall over the next year as they have over preceding years, we very well may hear about more and more people making the switch.