…reflected in the cabinetry of the world’s first disk drive, the 1956 RAMAC prototype, on its 50-year anniversary.
The size of a large refrigerator.
5 Megabytes on fifty 24” disks.
2KBits/sq. inch areal density; 20 tracks/inch; 100 bits/inch
8.8 kbits/second transfer rate.
The disk drive has improved more dramatically than the semiconductor (reflected in Moore’s law). Disk drive areal storage density has improved over 35 million times since 1956. (<a href="http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/422/grochowski.html">IBM Paper</a> with long term graphs)