In message <v04220814b457e31782c9@[204.167.101.35]>, Robert Hettinga writes:
>
> --- begin forwarded text
>
>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: a smartcard of a different color
> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 22:15:07 -0500
> From: Dan Geer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>
>
> Yesterday I saw a smartcard of a different color. In particular,
> it is the smartcard chip but in a key-ring thing that is more or
> less identical to the Mobil SpeedPass except that it has a USB
> connector on one end and a keyring hole on the other. Total length
> circa 1.25"; color purple; maker Rainbow Technologies. As my pal
> Peter Honeyman said in showing it to me, "There are already all
> the USB ports we'll ever need." I'd point out that without the
> 7816 requirement for flex a whole lot more memory is a trivial
> add-on and that USB is not a bandwidth bottleneck.
>
> --dan
>
> ref: http://www.rainbow.com/ikey/graphics/iKey_DS.pdf
Folks I've talked to about products like that say that USB ports aren't
designed for that many insertion/removal cycles. (We'll ignore, for now, all
of the PCs that have their USB ports in the back, where you can't get at
them easily. One could always add on a hub.)
--Steve Bellovin
