Western Digital displays its soft side with MyBook line of drives
Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital seems to be having something of an identity crisis lately, switching between a "dangerous" mystique with products like the Raptor and Scorpion, and a more dignified, family-friendly persona with the Caviar and now the MyBook series of drives. Literally shaped like a fat tome, the new drive draws its design cues from "in-depth consumer research," which probably indicated that people don't care to associate their computer peripherals with deadly animals past and present. These same consumers also must have told WD engineers that they want plug-and-play capability (no CDs required for install, check), easy-to-use file maintenance software and capacity indicators (also check), and finally, a heat dissipation system disguised as book page ends (checkmate). Drives that the whole family can agree on are available immediately, and range from $150 for the 160GB Essentials edition (USB 2.0) to $329 for the 500GB Premium version (Firewire 400).
[Via Yahoo!]
