New Swiss Army knife comes with memory
By Lonnie Brown

Beginning in May, the maker of the original Swiss Army knife will offer the popular knife with a fold-out RAM chip.

Today our high-tech subject will be the pocket knife. Like the one you may be carrying in your pocket. Sort of.

Remember, it's important to keep the knife blade sharp. Any hardware store worth its weight in penny nails will have a whetstone sitting somewhere in the store. Patrons are encouraged to use it to keep blades sharp.

"You can cut yourself a lot quicker with a dull blade than you can a sharp one,'' a long-time hardware-store owner instructed me years ago.

Now I can go back and tell him: "You never can have too much memory, so you might think about buying the knife with 128 megabytes of RAM instead of the 64 meg version.''

Yup. The Victorinox USB Swiss Army Knife gives new meaning to the phrase "cutting-edge technology.''

Introduced at a recent trade show in Germany, the Victorinox company -- maker of the original Swiss Army knife -- teamed up with Swissbit, a DRAM and flashmemory manufacturing company that was once part of Siemens.

The knife sports a fold-out RAM chip that plugs into a USB port, and comes in four models. Those models will be divided into two RAM sizes: The 64 meg version will sell for about $70; the 128 meg, about $85.

Two knives will be offered in each RAM size. One, which can be taken on an airplane, will have no blade, but will have a red LED to indicate RAM read/write, and ballpoint pen. The other will have (in addition to the aforementioned items) scissors, a nail file/screwdriver and a blade.

All versions will have password protection to protect data stored in RAM from unauthorized access.

For those who don't have a need for data transfer but want quick access to small tools for working with computers, Victorinox offers the CyberTool.

It is equipped with nearly three dozen different options, including four double-head hex bits for working with computers. Other goodies include a DIP-switch setter, wire bender/stripper, tweezers, toothpick, wire cutters, wire crimping tool, cap lifter and various screwdriver tips.

The knife case is about 3½ inches long and sells for about $60.

The RAM-knife, which will be available in stores starting in May, sounds pretty neat. But I'm waiting for the Victorinox Swiss Army PDA Cellphone MP3 VideoJukebox Web Browser Wi-Fi Corkscrew Nail-Trimmer combination.

Now that's a knife!

In 1884, Karl Elsener, son of a Swiss hat maker, opened his cutlery factory in the small village of Ibach, Switzerland. He had learned his knife-making trade in Germany, which had been a supplier of knives to the Swiss Army.

Elsener decided his company could employ local people, who had been leaving the country to work elsewhere, and supply knives to the Swiss Army.

In October 1891, the first delivery was made.

Elsener began producing other knives that were given names to identify the target market, such as "farmer's knife'' or "student knife.''

The company name is a hybrid. The company took the name Victoria after the death of Elsener's mother in 1909. Stainless steel was introduced to Victoria's knives shortly after its invention in 1921. To emphasize its use, international designation for stainless steel, Inox, was combined with Victoria to produce the Victorinox brand name.

Victorinox is one of two companies licensed to make Swiss Army-brand knives in the early 1900s. The other was Wenger.

In 1908, the army split the contract between the two companies. Wenger became the "genuine'' Swiss Army knife, and Victorinox became the "original'' Swiss Army knife -- titles that they carry today.

Victorinox uses a logo that is a white cross on a red shield. Wenger's logo is a white cross on a rounded-off square.

From: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll
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