How Long Should a Thumb Drive Last?

Joe wants to know if thumdrives should last a long time. Leo says that they have a limited life span, but it's gotten better and better. But they are primarily for short-term storage.  Even then, a thumbdrive wears out by writing to it over and over again, not reading from it. So if you load it up with music to listen from, for instance, it won't overheat due to reading from it. That happens when you write to it.