Solid State Drives (SSD) have been around for a few years now and although they seem like the obvious choice long term they are still relatively slow in adoption. The notebook computer space appears will adopt these quickly – I would expect significant percentage of notebook computers to be solid state by the end of 2011. There is tremendous upside for SSD in notebooks. SSD provides faster start up and less risk of damage in transport. Typically the notebook consumer is willing to pay the extra for these benefits.
SSD is making gains in the data center but at a slow pace. There are now SSD SANs and most hard drive manufacturers are offering SSD options. The technology to manage these drives still needs advancements and cost is still significantly higher so it is still probably two to three years before significant adoption.