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The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

Summary: When it comes to great technology design, we think of Apple. When it comes to truly horrible design though, there's something about USB thumb drives that bring out the worse—and I mean the worse—in designers. Here are ten drives you don't want to find under the Christmas tree or in your laptop bag.

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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The drive that started me on my quest for the ugliest of ugly USB thumb drive. The designers can't decide whether to go this “masterpiece” a chicken foot or turkey foot, I just call it ugly. No birds—I hope—were harmed in the creation of this 4GB drive.

Credit: Abulous Flash Drives

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Topic: Hardware

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23 comments
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  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    There are skateboard and surfboard ones, lego and wood ones.
    There is even a turd shaped one.
    MoeFugger
    Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    The diamond pig one isn't even ugly. Get a grip.
    xSteven777x
    Reply Vote

    • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

      @xSteven777x
      Oh yes it is.
      datrappert
      Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    Dbl post.
    xSteven777x
    Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    That skull USB drive isn't ugly... it's BADASS! It would be even more BADASS if it were a Cylon from the 1st Battlestar Galactica series.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

    • If you use the term "badass" in a post...

      @dsf3g
      then you are probably in the target demographic.
      Citizen Gkar
      Reply 1 Vote

      • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

        @Citizen Gkar

        25 years ago... LOL! Though even then I wasn't Goth.
        dsf3g
        Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    You can find many strange usb drives here: Dealextreme.com
    under: Consumer Electronics ?? Storage USB Flash Drives
    this is of course in Hong Kong so maybe there tastes are a little different...
    rby09
    Reply Vote

  • "...bring out the worst...", not "worse"

    This phrase was in the newsletter description of this gallery.
    DittoHeadStL
    Reply Vote

  • Humping Dog

    Our director brought this one back from Hong Kong. Pretty tasteless! It doesn't actually come with any memory installed, which considering then that it is totally useless I think it becomes even uglier. Fun gallery.
    boomchuck1
    Reply Vote

  • Prosthetic USB??

    Remembered this one from a while back...how's about Jerry Jalava's prosthetic thumb, or is that "finger" drive??
    Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10196121-1.html
    chpwichita
    Reply Vote

  • Who still uses a usb drive?

    Since I started using Dropbox, I hardly ever use a usb drive any more. Perhaps to hold my Powerpoint pres when I'll have to use somebody else's laptop.
    Mike Van Horn
    Reply Vote

    • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

      @Mike Van Horn Er, maybe because you have to, well, download/upload with dropbox? Seriously, it's like you've never had to move anything bigger than a word document before.
      Aerowind
      Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    Eh, a lot of these are amusing more than ugly. None of these drives are really for you...they're for annoying your buddies and such. There's even a few in there that would get an "Oh, that's cool" reaction.

    Not to mention that syringe USB is totally awesome, even coming from a guy who's terrified of needles.
    Aerowind
    Reply 1 Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    Ha! There you have it, SJVN, when you write an article that doesn't blindly extol the virtues of non-Microsoft products you can write interesting material. Congrats on an amusing piece. Much appreciated.
    mountjl
    Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    Lets rename this item "10 novelty USB drives ranging from funny to inappropriate of all"...
    IgnorantBugger
    Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    I would call them all stupid, I buy plainold drives, for one, they are cheaper and do the job just fine. Why anyone would wnat anything like these, i don't know.
    dhays
    Reply Vote

    • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

      @dhays

      I use SD cards in a USB adapter. The price is about the same and you can carry more SD cards in less space. I typically carry 3 to 6 16GB cards and others of smaller sizes around with me, and yes, the wallet I carry them in is on a leash, sort of.
      bart001fr@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: The ten ugliest thumb USB drives of all

    Maybe those are ugly but this one has taste,

    http://www.dealextreme.com/p/heineken-beer-bottle-usb-2-0-flash-jump-drive-green-4gb-39642

    though, it might be better if they had gotten the exact tint of green right.

    Thanks to rby09 for the url and pointer.
    bart001fr@...
    Reply Vote

  • The USB Humping Dog

    The USB Humping Dog isn't a thumb drive, just a USB gizmo. It has no data storage feature.
    lonniemcclure
    Reply 1 Vote
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