4 ms·

Innovation doesn't equal inventing new stuff. I think it is quite innovative how they use an old mechanism for a new use case.

close04 7y ago
It's not a new use case, it's still used to connect a card to a board. Just like the hinged connector used for microSD before this [0]. It's more USB 3.0 type A connector vs. the USB 2.0 type A. Neither the connector itself nor the application are innovative. Which is why nobody is pointing out the particular innovation in the connector. [0] https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-connectors/micro-sd-card-connector/micro-sd-card-connector-hinge-type.html https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-co...
- danaris 7y ago
  Using it for a smaller NVMe SSD, however, is. Quite clearly. You can call just about anything "not innovative" if you're sufficiently reductionist about it. The idea that the only "true" innovation is some totally unknown, totally revolutionary idea that came completely out of nowhere fully formed is a toxic one that robs people and companies of just praise for coming up with interesting and useful new things, while others get lauded for making a whizbang concept prototype that's never going to be commercially viable. This is something no one has done before, even if many of the parts have been done in different ways. That's innovation.
  - close04 7y ago
    Toshiba calls it an "innovative connector design" referring explicitly to the connector itself. You don't have to be a "reductionist" to see that it's not really that innovative. MicroSD cards have been using the hinged connector for years [0]. Now the fact that they connect this type of card instead of the other type of card is indeed new. I appreciate them improving on the current situation and I love that I'll get SSD performance with SD convenience but it doesn't have to be innovative for me to do that. [0] https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-connectors/micro-sd-card-connector/micro-sd-card-connector-hinge-type.html https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-co...
  - buran77 7y ago
    I had this type of connector for memory cards in some old devices. This was a while before the push-push connectors came into fashion. The requirements back then were much lower than what this connector delivers. No real need to dissipate heat or handle PCIe signals.
- akira2501 7y ago
  > Neither the connector itself nor the implementation are innovative. This is a market innovation, not a technical one.
  - close04 7y ago
    So this slide [0] describing the connector's design, manufacturing, and operation, with a bullet list of mechanical and electrical features refers to a "market innovation"? [0] https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14711/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-05%20at%2011.27.18%20PM.png https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14711/Screen%20Shot%202019...
    - mffnbs 7y ago
      The marketing slides? Ye

close04 7y ago

It's not a new use case, it's still used to connect a card to a board. Just like the hinged connector used for microSD before this [0]. It's more USB 3.0 type A connector vs. the USB 2.0 type A. Neither the connector itself nor the application are innovative. Which is why nobody is pointing out the particular innovation in the connector. [0] https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-connectors/micro-sd-card-connector/micro-sd-card-connector-hinge-type.html https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-co...

danaris 7y ago
Using it for a smaller NVMe SSD, however, is. Quite clearly. You can call just about anything "not innovative" if you're sufficiently reductionist about it. The idea that the only "true" innovation is some totally unknown, totally revolutionary idea that came completely out of nowhere fully formed is a toxic one that robs people and companies of just praise for coming up with interesting and useful new things, while others get lauded for making a whizbang concept prototype that's never going to be commercially viable. This is something no one has done before, even if many of the parts have been done in different ways. That's innovation.
- close04 7y ago
  Toshiba calls it an "innovative connector design" referring explicitly to the connector itself. You don't have to be a "reductionist" to see that it's not really that innovative. MicroSD cards have been using the hinged connector for years [0]. Now the fact that they connect this type of card instead of the other type of card is indeed new. I appreciate them improving on the current situation and I love that I'll get SSD performance with SD convenience but it doesn't have to be innovative for me to do that. [0] https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-connectors/micro-sd-card-connector/micro-sd-card-connector-hinge-type.html https://www.yamaichi.de/products/connector-solutions/card-co...
- buran77 7y ago
  I had this type of connector for memory cards in some old devices. This was a while before the push-push connectors came into fashion. The requirements back then were much lower than what this connector delivers. No real need to dissipate heat or handle PCIe signals.
akira2501 7y ago
> Neither the connector itself nor the implementation are innovative. This is a market innovation, not a technical one.
- close04 7y ago
  So this slide [0] describing the connector's design, manufacturing, and operation, with a bullet list of mechanical and electrical features refers to a "market innovation"? [0] https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14711/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-05%20at%2011.27.18%20PM.png https://images.anandtech.com/doci/14711/Screen%20Shot%202019...
  - mffnbs 7y ago
    The marketing slides? Ye