Thanks to Toshiba, using an SD memory card can be as annoying as burning a CD. The new Write Once Memory Card allows you to write data once and never again, just like burning a non-rewritable CD. The storage size isn't far off, either, at 1GB against a CD's 700MB.
Why bother? The card is aimed at governments, police and other entities that need to record tamper-free data. Evidence photos, for example, could be stored on this card and couldn't subsequently be changed. It could also finally tempt recalcitrant film lovers to come to digital, where they could still enjoy arbitrary and expensive storage limits.
I think its a worrying trend, and I hope desperately that it won't spread to USB thumb drives. Currently, I have a bowl full of old, branded USB sticks which came loaded with press releases at CES, Mobile World Congress and other shows. I keep it by the door so guests can grab them like candies when they leave. Imagine how useless these would be if you actually had to keep the press blurb on them.
SD memory card with a tamper-proof Write Once [Toshiba via Crunchgear]
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