14 DAY TRIAL // As it always happens when science develops, older technologies become obsolete and are replaced by newer, more refined versions or completely different technologies altogether. Such seems to be the case with first-generation Solid State storage, specifically Intel's SSDs introduced back in August 2008. Intel will no longer be manufacturing 50nm-based X25/X18-M 80GB and 160GB SATA solid state drives due to the technology having been surpassed by the 34nm process, which allows for the creation of SSDs with both better performance capabilities and higher affordability.
Looking at these developments, it becomes apparent that technology is progressing at a rather rapid rate. The 50nm-based Solid State Drives were first released for consumer use in August 2008, no more than a little over a year ago. Discontinuing the product means that the actual product life on the market for SSDs is just a little longer than a year. This means that even mainstream and high-end CPUs, which are Intel's focus, have a longer product life than solid state storage technologies.
After it introduced the first-generation X25-M and X18-M solid state drives in August 2008, Intel released the second-generation in July 2009, less than a year later. Based on this development, it would not be surprising if a similar situation is seen by mid-2010.
Intel has been making significant headway in other areas as well. The Santa Clara-based chip maker has already announced a research milestone in its developments of better transistors, which only shows how quickly technology is advancing in general. According to the enterprise, the new type of high-k gate dielectric increases transistor switching speed and improves efficiency.
Orders for the aforementioned X25-M and X18-M SSDs models will only continue being accepted, and canceled for that matter, until April 20, 2010. The final shipment date for the 50nm drives is set for August 7, 2010.