So, 30MB/s then? Not that hot, is it?

I mean, OK, it's potentionally great for laptops, but couldn't you just use RAM? I mean RAM is cheaper and it doesn't have the many problems that flash memory has.

One - it's 'niche' market...

Two - the memory modules on RAM chip aren't of much use for SSD's, for as I understand it, they only retain the information stored on them whilst they are powered. Switch them off, have a power cut, and bye bye data!

@Frank

According to the Toshiba press release, the "MB" is actually megaBYTE not megabit:

http://www.toshiba.com/taec/news/press_releases/2008/memy_08_550.jsp

The footnote next to the first instance of the quoted speeds reads thus:

"For purposes of measuring read and write speed in this context, 1 Megabyte or MB = 1,000,000 bytes. Read and write speed may vary depending on the controller, read and write conditions, such as file sizes you read and/or write."

Okay, so it's one of those stupid hard disk manufacturer MB values rounded to a cool 1,000,000 bytes and not 1,048,576 bytes (1024 * 1024) as used everywhere else.

In terms of performance, with virtually zero seek times in SSDs and those read/write rates, these drives can potentially tinkle on traditional drive technology from a great height. Esp. when SSD optimised OS drivers surface like Sandisk's ExtremeFFS.

Plus they're perfectly silent and use a fraction of the power. It's a real shame these devices will cost about the same as a small nation's GDP...

ps - I hate the fact that mbit has recently been further abbreviated to Mb - didn't anyone realise that was already taken?!