Patent ID: 6999403

Claim:
A storage device comprising: a probe having a tip, the tip being electrically conductive; a storage medium, the storage medium being electrically conductive and electrically contacted to the tip, wherein the tip is adapted to form a dent in the storage medium, wherein the tip is adapted to cooperate with the storage medium to provide a variable resistance based on whether the tip is engaged in the dent, wherein the variable resistance has a first resistance value in response to the tip being engaged in the dent, and wherein the variable resistance has a second resistance value in response to the tip being engaged on a surface of the storage medium but not in the dent, the first resistance value being less than the second resistance value; a sensing device to detect current flow through a signal path associated with the variable resistance between the probe and the storage medium; and circuitry to indicate a first data state in response to detecting a first current value corresponding to the first resistance value, and to indicate a second data state in response to detecting a second current value corresponding to the second resistance value.