M-Systems DiskOnKey (2000)

For 20 years people had been predicting the death of the floppy, but it took a gadget the size of your thumb to actually sound the death knell. With 8MB to 32MB of flash memory at its introduction in November 2000, the DiskOnKey was easier to use than a diskette, and was the first device of its type that didn't need drivers for your PC. You just plugged it into a USB port, copied files to it, and popped it back into your pocket. Suddenly, moving big files from one computer to another was no longer a hassle. PCW photo by Rick Rizner.