When Intel first debuted the "Light Peak" interface back in 2009, the impressive 10Gpbs transfer rate blew minds. However, due to several technical issues, including the inability to piggyback with a USB port, it sounded more like fusion power - great idea but when will it actually happen - than an impending reality. Then they joined forces with Apple and the result of that joint effort, the Thunderbolt, bypasses USB entirely and looks like it might even manage to supplant the USB standard... sometime in the future. For now, Apple is adding a Thunderbolt port to a wide range of their products including Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and Mac mini. That's great for new Mac owners, they just need a peripheral that can utilize the interface.
Enter external hard drive guru LaCie. They have produced the first storage device designed to utilize Thunderbolt, the extremely twee-named Little Big Disk. Little Big Disk isn't a misnomer. It weighs in at less than two pounds, comes in an aluminum casing housing two 2.5-inch drives and has two ports to allow it to be daisy-chained along with the 5 other devices supported by Thunderbolt. It comes in two varieties: the 1TB model at 7200 rpm for $399.95, and the 2TB version at 5400rpm for $499.95. Not cheap, but as long as you make sure not to place it on the edge of your desk and in the path of oncoming housecats, it's likely to last at least until Thunderbolt becomes the new standard. As Mac currently sells the only Thunderbolt devices, Little Big Disk is available online and in Apple stores. Sony plans to include a Thunderbolt port in the Vaio Z21.
