Instant On from Apple

According to the Motley Fool, the reason behind Apple's huge NAND Flash deal could be to provide an "Instant ON" kind of computer. link.

An Instant On system is already present if we use a "Hibernate" or "Standby" power down mode in MS Windows. It still takes time for the PC to boot up, but its better than having to log on every morning. Hibernate works by storing the contents of RAM on Disk. When the computer is turn on again, the contents of RAM are put back from the Hard Disk and the Operating System continues from where it left off.

The problem with this method is the time its takes for the computer to read the stored data from the Hard Disk into RAM and then try to make sense of it all. Hard Disk access is quite slow when compared to how quick CPUs actually are. This is due to the way a Hard Disk works. A moving mechanical arm is required and this physical movement will take time. If the data saved is all over the place, then the Operating System will take longer to collect all of it.

If NAND Flash is used instead of a Hard Disk, then the time to read data is the same regardless of the location.

Perhaps, this is the thinking behind the article. I for one, would love to get my hands on an Intel Based iBook or Powerbook as soon as they are out. That's still on my wishlist.

Myopic view of apple technology flash