A brief history of the disk drive

 

I found a bronzed model of a 5 1/4″ disk drive circa 1980.  It got me thinking about how we’ve come from then to now.

Seagate created the first 5 1/4″ format drive with a 5 MB capacity.  I’m sure the commonly heard refrain – the same one heard with every new drive innovation – was “A drive that small? With that much storage?  How can it be?” 

Cost per MB has gone from $200 in 1980 to $20 in 1990 to 2 cents in 2000.  That as much as anything defines the last three decades of the disk drive industry.

What’s next?  SSDs will play a big role, but the drive format rules of the last 30 years won’t apply in the same way.  Flash and spinning media are not only alternatives; they can be blended for new capabilities that frankly nobody fully understands yet.

The next decade is going to be a fun ride in the storage device industry!

2009-03-31T06:23:15+00:00

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