- Fewer writes to external Flash media mean it could last last YEARS longer than it would under normal circumstances.
- This is exacerbated by the fact that Microsoft, Adobe, and many other file types are only going to get bigger over time. Yet the actual change to individual files when you make minor changes probably hasn't increased much over time.
- If a program like this takes off and becomes widely available, ordinary developers will start making software that specifically tries to keep file changes to a minimum based on actual changes. The comparison is saving an entirely new matrix or saving a new "layer" to an existing structure.
Background: this post was drawn from another thread about my research on RSYNC. However, I think its particularly relevant to portable users (and really anyone who does most of their work on flash-based storage).