Recently Crucial Technology celebrated its 10th birthday by releasing a commemorative limited edition DDR2-667 RAM module. It's been 10 years of affordably-priced and reliable memory modules, and 10 years of lifetime warranties on RAM that is guaranteed to work with your computer. In the interview below, Crucial Memory's general manager Fred Waddel talks about the evolution of computer memory in recent years, his company's impact on the industry, and a retrospective on the most important moment in Crucial's history.

How has the memory industry changed over the past 10 years? What has Crucial done to change the industry during that time?

Fred Waddel: Memory density and capability have grown at an astounding rate. When we first opened our doors in 1996, our most popular memory upgrade was a matching pair of 16MB EDO SIMMs. They sold for $141 each, for a total of $282. Things have changed dramatically since then. Today, 1GB modules or 2GB kits are common upgrades. And the prices have dropped dramatically as well. In fact, today you can get 1GB of RAM for the same price as 16MB cost back in 1996!

Moreover, over the past decade memory has played an increasingly important role in enhancing the computing experience. People are demanding a lot more from their PCs than they did ten years ago. Today, they rely on their computer to watch movies, network to other PCs, download music, multi-task at work, load and play graphics-intensive games, and so much more. That's why more memory is better.

Crucial has stayed on the cutting edge of this revolution -- and to help customers, we've developed some tools to make a fairly technical process easy and straightforward, namely our Memory Advisor tool and our System Scanner.

What is Crucial's best-selling product? Have you had any surprise successes?

FW: Well, our DRAM products are still our biggest sellers, though we also have enjoyed a lot of success with our flash memory products and our video cards.

Our DRAM is always going to be in demand because people know they can prolong the life of an old system quickly and affordably. In addition, a surprisingly large portion of our business (between 40 and 50% of our customers) is comprised of people with brand-new, bare-bones systems. They buy Crucial memory after the fact because they know about our quality, competitive pricing, and warranty. And they've figured out that buying after-market memory is a great way to save money on a new computer.

As far as surprises: we've enjoyed some great success with our performance-minded Ballistix/Tracer line. It's engineered for a very niche audience -- joining low latency and high-speed performance with a revolutionary, cool-looking design -- and it's developed a distinctive loyal following among gamers and case-modders.

To whom does Crucial primarily sell to?

FW: Crucial was initially established as a direct retailer to end-user consumers through our Crucial.com Web site. But today, a large portion of our business comes from our relationships with many of the major OEMs as well as our white box and channel customers. We've worked hard to fine-tune the e-commerce model -- continuously improving with the end-customer in mind. Today's customers enjoy quick fulfillment and shipping; compatible, high-quality products; innovative online tools; and competitive prices. And they reap these benefits regardless of where they go to find Crucial products -- direct from crucial.com or through our Crucial partners.

What was the single most important moment in Crucial's history?

FW: Of course, the sentimental favorite would be our first order in late 1996.

Launching the e-commerce model of our Web site in 1997 is another milestone.

But overall, one could argue that the establishment of our industry-leading Memory Calculator was a real watershed moment. It was the first of several forward-thinking tools developed to help customers find the right memory upgrade quickly and accurately. In 2001, we introduced this calculator, which showed customers how much RAM was needed to achieve peak performance. We improved on that idea with the Crucial Memory Advisor tool, which provides a list of upgrades mapped specifically to your system and your motherboard. And earlier this year, we unveiled our System Scanner tool, which redefined the way customers could find a compatible memory upgrade. The System Scanner is a free, downloadable tool that quickly scans a computer's hardware to detect a configuration automatically. If you haven't tried it out yet, I'm sure you'll be impressed.

What's the question I forgot to ask? What do other journalists ignore when they write about Crucial?

FW: Well, a lot of people aren't aware of our Mac upgrades. We also have a huge customer base of Mac users, who rely on us for compatible, high-quality memory upgrades. In fact, we are one of the few sources (outside of Apple) where Mac enthusiasts can find the newest Apple-qualified FBDIMMS for the MacPro line.

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Copyright 2006 Jem Matzan.