The following USB flash drives are called Empty Memory not only because the storage is empty, but also because their design suggests that.
Designers Yoo-Kyung Shin and Hanhsi Chen, the creators of the Empty Memory line of USB flash drives, claim that these are first jewelry pieces and their storage is regarded as a secondary function. Since USB drives no longer have to be bulky, the designers decided to use the extra space to suggest emptiness. The first model is based on brushed stainless steel and acrylic, and measures 47 x 18 x 8 mm. The acrylic part symbolizes transparency and clearness, which can both be seen as characteristics of amnesia or empty memory.
The second model is entirely made of stainless steel. Irregular lines encapsulate empty space, which you will get to fill with your own memories, provided that you can afford buying such a product. The high-quality 316 stainless steel model is called Structure, while the first one is adequately named Transparency. It is hard to tell how the designers mean people to wear these jewelries. A chain could go through the lines of the Structure model, thus turning it into a necklace or a bracelet charm. However, Transparency does not seem to feature any loops for this purpose.
The Empty Memory flash drives are available for pre-order here and will be shipped in February. The pre-order price is £48 and includes free shipping worldwide. Well, it had better include that, since the price is steep from whatever angle you look at it, especially since it is a 4GB drive we are talking about. You will probably ask yourself if there are actually people out there who would pay this price when a flash drive 10 times cheaper can do the same. And my answer is obviously yes. If you do not believe me, check out the people who own Vertu mobile phones. The rather unique design and the feeling of exclusivity will determine the more wealthier ones to pay premium prices to get their hands on such gadgets.
If you liked this post, please check these steampunk USB cufflinks and the DatenKlau crowbar USB drive.
