Portable storage units are equipped with human readable electronic displays that contain information pertaining to the content and state of the storage units. The information displayed changes as the contents of the storage unit change. Such electronic labels can contain a variety of useful information. Some information would be static, such as owner identification, while other information will be dynamic such as the amount of free space. Still other information will be browseable such as the directory structure, file contents, storage unit total capacity, storage unit available space, storage unit directory structure, storage unit file names. storage unit file contents and device reliability statistics.