U3 is a platform that allows users to take their USB applications to any Windows PC where they can be launched from a USB flash drive. But it should be a U3 Smart Drive. U2 is a band which is definitely not a flash-in-the-pan, though they could conceivably release their music on a flash drive. And their members are probably smart musicians.
U3 is a proprietary format owned by SanDisk which collects royalties whenever it’s implemented in USB flash drives. U2 records material which is proprietary and they collect royalties whenever it’s “implemented” on radio stations or advertisements.
U3 applications are required to clean up data from the guest PC after an application has been launched from a USB drive. U2 tries to clean up the world by working on issues such as poverty, disease, social justice and narcissism. Well not narcissism but the other ones for sure.
U3 compatible USB drives can be configured with security, requiring passwords before loading data. U2 has Bono whose real name is Paul Hewson, who has been known to travel around with a security detail that keeps paparazzi and riff raff at arms length. Though it isn’t always clear who fits the definition of either.
When it comes to portable apps, U3 could be described as the genie in the flash drive. There seems to be no genie behind U2’s musical success except for the name, Bono which comes from the Latin phrase for “Good Voice.” But being Irish there might be leprechauns somewhere in the mix.