Memory makers would be wise never to take consumer demand for granted. It's a lesson all involved had to learn the hard way after the DRAM market crashed crashed a few years ago, and with the rise in popularity of solid state drives and products that use them, NAND flash memory is proving to be their mulligan. Even still, a repeat of what happened to DRAM sales is possible, and surprisingly enough, it's the Ultrabook market that's driving sales of NAND flash memory, not all those supposed PC-killing tablets.

It was being reported last week that Micron Technology issued a bid of $1.5 billion to take over Elpida Memory, which had fallen on tough times after a prolonged slump in the DRAM market, and it now appears as though Micron is the frontrunner to acquire the bankrupt memory maker. Toshiba and Globalfoundries were two other names that had been thrown around as potential suitors, but either they didn't bid, or they were outbid by Micron.

Running low on RAM? The sooner you stock up, the less you'll end up paying, which doesn't sound like a big deal when you consider how rock-bottom RAM prices have become, but don't be fooled into thinking that will always be the case. Memory prices have already started to creep upwards, and various sources warn that this is going to be the trend through March and possibly beyond.

The dirty little secret about DRAM is that we're all underpaying for computer memory, and most of us know it. When the DRAM bubble burst, prices plummeted faster than Lindsay Lohan's career, which is why OCZ moved away from selling memory and starting hawking solid state drives, a segment that's overpriced just like DRAM used to be. It's starting to look like the DRAM market might never regain it's swagger from a decade ago, but there are still times when you should consider stocking up on memory. This might be one of them.