Is there a better way to use flash memory?

I've had (and posted) thoughts along the same lines. the last time I posted them one person responded that checksums and ecc codes could prevent writing to small portions of flash

I think it's an idea worth investigating (it could trade some space for reduced erase cycles, being especially effective in metadata), but it would require either a smart drive (that doesn't move a block if it can be modified in place from the current to the desired value) or raw access to the flash.