USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. The birth of the custom USB flash drive is credited to Dr. Fujio Masuoka. He invented NOR and NAND Flash Memory while working for Toshiba. The release of the first removable drive was in 1984, using Masuoka’s NOR Flash Memory. It was in 1984 when he invented NOR Flash Memory, which is the predecessor to NAND Flash Memory. NOR Flash Memory has long erase and write times but provides full address and data buses. This allows for random access to any memory location. It’s endurance is about 10,000 to 1,000,000 erase cycles. NOR based flash was the basis for early removable media.

In 1989, Toshiba announced the release of NAND flash. This was a ground-breaking moment in the history of flash drives. It has faster erase and write times, and requires a smaller chip are per cell. This allows for greater storage capacities and lower costs than NOR Flash Memory. NAND Flash Memory is also more durable than NOR Flash Memory.

NAND Flash does not provide a random-access external bus. This makes NAND a bad choice to replace program ROM, but an ideal one for mass-storage. In 1996, some computer manufacturers began to produce computers with USB ports and support for USB connectivity. With the release of the iMac in 1998, came the widespread use of customized USBs. They are expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports. The Custom Flash Drive is a NAND Flash Memory device with an integrated USB connector. The Custom Flash Drive as you know it today was invented by Dov Moran. He engineered the integration of a USB connector to a NAND Flash Device.