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!
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