See USB flash drives manufactured in this shocking behind-the-scenes video
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted August 25th 2009 3:25AM
posted August 25th 2009 3:25AM
No, Billy, USB thumb drives are not made in a magical land with fairy dust and Unicorn tears, and they're not born in the space beneath the Razzleberry waterfall. Yes, we're as shocked as you are. Luckily, the gang at Netbook News are on hand to set us straight with this video of the Kingston Manufacturing Plant, which offers us a rare glimpse into all of the stamping, printing, baking, cutting, and packaging that goes into getting you the portable storage you crave. Interesting? You bet it is -- and it's after the break.
[Via Make]
[Via Make]
See more video at our hub!
arise my minions!
always loved reliabled kingston flash drives :P
OMG .. my memory stick is just a generic clone! All this time I was thinking it was a unique extension of my Id. Oh sorry I'm confusing that for my Apple hardware.
narration fail!
My gosh, why didn't they just get one of those Chinese factory workers to narrate the thing? and Subtitle it? Probably feel more authentic and less cringe-inducing than this token white guy who can't even say the word 'chip' properly.
I stopped watching half way through. Can't stand the guy's voice.
He also kept pronouncing "solder" wrong
In the UK we say it like "soul-der" like he does. How do Americans say it?
Agree, I also stopped watching half way because I couldn't stand that guy.
LOL AvengerLE, your comment cracked me up, i was in tears.
I got soul, but I'm not a solder.
i got Ham but im not a Hamster!
I lol at intolerant Americans.
I know, its amazing! Not everyones accent is as boring as yours!
@Daz
Bill Bailey FTW! +1 internets for you my friend!
@Chromana
Sah-der
really? you say sah-der? You must be from Boston or something. I thought it was more like saw-der.
this guy is horrible as a news speaker. ^^
maybe they should have used a "automatical" robot instead ;)
TBH it seems odd they don't have a machine to label aswell
Well this IS China you know...
Don't want to leave people out on the pitiful wages. But who am I to complain? I'm not rich haha!
I think machine would be much faster and better
My guess is that they really want to do that, but haven't figured out a way to do it in a satisfying way. All the previous steps only involve hardware with a firm form... labels are able to bend and might be harder to control.
yeah, i have one of these exact sticks, and honestly i wouldn't really even care if it didn't have the sparkly little sticker. save kingston some cash and give those poor ladies a break. let them tend the oven part, that seems a bit more natural.
it'll probably be cheaper hiring those people.
@factionxvt408 Except it's in Taiwan...
@factionxvt408 It is in Taiwan NOT China
@Cuby Let's get 'em barefoot & preggers while we're at it.
so that's why sometimes my stickers are a little misplaced/ crooked
AI-SEES - IC
Ships - Chips
Seeheld - Sealed
Argh, i agree, this guy can't pronounce words without horribly disfiguring them.
"Enshuldigung, welcome to the ship plant mit me, Bruno."
lol
Meh.
The footage they have from these tours are really interesting, but the narrators are pathetic.
I actually enjoy them more with the audio muted..
"Ship shooter" "Mini chainsaw" ... rofl
That's what was so fun about it! Without the amusing narration, the wife would think I'm just geeking out. This way, I am, but I'm also entertaining her. =P
I had always thought that these things grew on trees. I am glad that I now know the truth.
Ok, vid is really interesting, but I actually pulled my headphones off halfway through. The guy is the most annoying narrator I can recall. He doesn't pronounce words correctly. He stops midway through sentences. Half of his sentences were pointless and he actually said very little of any meaning. At the very least give the guy a script or something.
Got to say, the chick at the end who has to sit and put all the labels on with a pair of tweezers... I so badly never want to have her job.
"Here." ... "Here." ... "Here."
This bastard presentation is horrible...Do all americans like this?
Hah，maybe kingston bribes the guy with $$$!
This guy was not an American. Judging by his name in the credits and his accent; he appears to be German. I don't understand why people are saying his pronunciation was "horrible", I understood everything he said without difficulty. I'd like to see you all speak perfect German *rolls eyes*.
what is a "bastard presentation"? a presentation without a father? and do all *Americans like what? do all Americans talk like him? or do all Americans like this presentation?
You should complete a sentence if you're trying to joke on an entire country.. and no, this guy is definitely *NOT* American. it's pretty easy to tell that English is this man's second language. it's *awesome* that he's put enough time in to learn a secondary language, especially since you can understand what he's trying to say, but for a news caster it's not a good idea to have him making a video that native-speaking English language users will be watching.
and Venus... that made no sense.
@Dillon... the point is, he's reporting on a topic in a language that is not his own and he's butchering it. understanding a person in a private setting is one thing, but if you're going to report in a language it's usually a good idea to be able to speak that language properly.
about your comment, sure, most of us cannot speak a second language... but you don't see us making a news video in *that* language for the native speakers of *that* language.
He said maybe three words total that I didn't understand at first. I would hardly call that "butchering" it. Also, he is speaking the language properly, better than 90% of the people posting in the comments.
I don't see how someone else reporting on this would have made much of a difference. Obviously the other reporters would be just as clueless as to exactly how these machines work. In my opinion, he did an "okay" job. It would have also worked without narration.
P.S. The main reason I commented on that particular post is because the OP made absolutely no sense.
Ahhh, you get to see the final step where the USB stick is delicately placed inside the special finger-lacerating-razor-sharp-plastic packaging!
Obviously it wasn't lacerating enough, you're still typing!
Kingston use the good kind that just pops open. Not the cruddy kind that you need scissors to get into.
In fact, almost USB flash drives are made in China. We can have a look at all shapes of flash memory drives on uxsight, http://www.uxsight.com/category/51071/flash-memory-drives.html.
I just want to say the Chinese are very intelligent. They have scored great achievements despite poor research conditions and poor living conditions.
50 Yuan says the above poster is from mainland China...
"I'm not an expert on this"
Then why were you picked to narrate?!
Damn right - I mean, at least ask some questions before you get on camera about the process, so that you don't sound like a total fool.
"Mini chainsaw"... please. "Ship-shooter"... it's not shooting "ships" or chips for that matter - it's putting on the SMT (surface mount technology) devices like resistors, LEDs, capacitors, etc. The actual chips were put on later...
Hmm, this guy looks like Marshall from 'How I met your Mother'. Doesn't sound like it however.
"what is this? 10 ft?" AGHHH - I join those who say his voice is so annoying!
Ohh germans... that was funny.