After so many high-capacity flash based MP3 players, it was just about time that a vendor like NEC has developed a laptop computer that doesn’t include a hard-disk drive! Hopefully the battery life will increase to double digits!

In my view, Flash Memory will be one of the Key components of an evolution in consumer products. It might sound crazy, but with the way flash-based technology is going I foresee 100-500 GB flash drives (remember the day when 1GB HD was a dream?). That means a lot less power consumption, data access time in microseconds, and virtually no data-loss. Next to CPU and memory, that’d categorically put an end to the last mechanical component of a server (cooling fans and CD drives excluded).

Power consumption and data-loss are amongst the most costly problems for any online business. Thinking about how a flash-based server will impact the bottom line for MSN, Yahoo, and Google …