New-style USB drive kicks off confab

Nifty use for a USB - carry around applications with you and plug-n-play at any workstation. Easier, perhaps, than networking software but more likely to be misplaced. This idea is not new as you can do this yourself easily enough using a bootable flash drive. Other companies have touched upon this idea as well - most notably SanDisk and their Digital BackPack [the idea of using a flashdrive as an active peripheral device and not just for storage].

How might this work in the real world? Well ... at Boston University we purchase and provide copies of CAST eReader to students for use in accessing the eText we scan and produce. Presently, we load the program onto the personal computers of the students. This is fine when the student has a laptop and can carry it around, but what of the students who have desktop units? In addition to the basic use of document TTS, eReader does a very good job within its built-in browser environment. Students doing internet research on library computers may not be able to access this same material using their personal computers [especially their personal computer is a desktop workstation].

How might the flexibility and portability of such a device benefit our students [and make our jobs easier]?