Evolution Of Storage Devices

Technology has evolved at a very fast pace. We have come a long way and still there is a lot which needs to be done. There was a time when 128 MB memory card was considered as a huge storage device. Now, we have a 128 GB memory cards and still it seems not enough.

So, how far have we come across several types of storage devices and what all has changed? In this post, I’m going talk on how a list of storage devices have evolved and what can we expect in coming future.

In Terms Of Storage

* When storage device came into existence, the Punch Cards can only store only 960 bits of data. Things changed in 1960 when Magnetic Tapes were introduced which were capable of storing 10,000 times data as compared with Punch Cards. !970 to 1980 saw the rise of Floppy Disks.

* When Floppy Disks were first introduced they were of size 5.2” and could store 1.2 MB of data. So, if you wish to carry a high-resolution image, you will need a Floppy Disk, a size of your smartphone.

* Floppy Disks improved in 1980 and the size was decreased to 3.5” and the storage was increased to 1.44 MB, a significant improvement as per that time. Those floppy disks can hold up to 375 single-spaced pages of text.

* CDs and Zip Disks come into the market in early 90s and totally changed the scenario of storage devices. Suddenly the storage capacity went to over 700 MB from mere 1.44 MB. The transfer speed also improved and it boosted the music industry as now they can promote their music via CDs.

* The most significant changes were seen in the year 2000 when flash drive and hard disk entered the market. People were excited to see such a development as now they can store up to 8 GB of data. It was the hard drive which amused the world as it could store up to 1 TB of data which is more than enough.

In Terms Of Weight & Size

* The very first disk drive was introduced by IBM and it was huge in size. It was as big as a large wardrobe and could only store 3.75MB of data. It was 24 inch in diameter and 68 inches long in length. It weighed almost a ton.

* Magnetic Tapes were also heavy and big in size. They used to weigh up to 5kg. The best part about these tapes was that people thought they are the smallest size possible and were really happy to know that they can now carry and transfer a storage device.

The significant changes came when Floppy disks were introduced as now the storage devices weighed only 50-100 grams and can easily be carried without any efforts. CDs and DVDs also weighed almost close to 35-40 grams and now people started carrying themselves to listen to songs with Discman and Walkman.

Pen Drives and Hard Disks completely revolutionized the storage device market. When SD cards came into the existence people couldn’t believe that they can store up to 128 GB of data in a device which is smaller than a nail. The pen drives and hard disks can now store up to Terabytes of data and weighs just 10 grams.

Developments Made in Storage Devices

From transferring storage device in planes to carry them in pockets, there is a lot of development done in this field. With USB 3.0 we have now a transfer speed of over 625mbps/sec. Do you know that 1 hard disk can store as much data as 750,000 Floppy Disks?

With Cloud Storage and SSDs coming into play, computer storage units now are getting smarter and smarter. Thanks to Cloud Storage we now can store almost unlimited data on the cloud which can be accessed at any time and at any place.

Final Words

The day is not far when we will have even smaller list of storage devices carrying more and more data. With advancement in technology, soon we will have 2TB microSD memory card support for our smartphone. Various types of storage devices are getting evolved at a much faster pace so, just wait and watch where this growth will lead these devices.

What is your opinion about the evolution of storage devices? Stay tuned to read a comprehensive post on the types of storage devices in my upcoming post.