Don't Use the L Word to Describe These Devices

Dont Use the L Word to Describe These Devices
LaCie, a manufacturer of computer hard drives, is trying to think outside the silver-and-black box.

Its new Brick line tries to improve on the typical rectangular storage device with brightly colored desktop and mobile hard drives.

The drives look like children's plastic building blocks and come in three colors: the 160-gigabyte drive is white; the 300-gigabyte is blue; and there are two models in red, with 250- and 500-gigabyte capacities.

The drives can be stacked to save desk space, although each uses a separate U.S.B. or FireWire connection to the computer.

"People can use each color for a different thing, like music, pictures or data," said Philippe Spruch, a co-founder of LaCie and its chief executive.