Memory companies hold a funny place in the world of gadgets -- they provide an essential component to PDAs, MP3 players, smart phones, digital cameras and the like -- yet they are essentially invisible.

And while branding does play a role in consumer's purchasing decisions in this area, very often price is the determining factor when faced with competing products in clam shell cases hanging from retailers' display racks.

All this leads to a note about Crucial Technology celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. 

The Crucial story starts with Micron Technology, one of the largest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) manufacturers in the world and the only one based in the U.S.

Headquartered in Boise, ID (yes, that is true), Micron manufactures DRAM chips and assembles them into memory modules for sale to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. And they have been doing it for more than 25 years.

When Micron asked, well, what about the end user? What about the everyday folks who want to upgrade their existing systems with OEM-quality memory -- the home desktop user, the IT network guy, the student notebook user?

To make a long story short, Crucial Technology was born in 1996 (September to be specific -- so it really is 10 years to the month!) to take this memory to consumers with factory-direct pricing.

Obviously, 10 years in the memory business underscores that they must be doing something right.

So, if you're not familiar with Crucial, take a look at www.crucial.com.