Digital Home Thoughts: A Brief History of Data Storage

"Your next build may very well come configured with dual-SSD drives in a RAID 0 array for the OS, a gluttonous 2TB SATA HDD for storage duties, and a Blu-ray optical drive for movie watching and HD backups. And for quick transfers from one rig to another, does it get any sweeter than a 64GB USB thumb drive loaded with all of your favorite apps? Such a storage scheme is certainly worthy of dream machine status, but our storage options weren't always as fanciful, fast, and fat as they are today. Some of you may remember toting a 3.5-inch floppy to and from school, while others hearken all the way back to cassette tapes. And if you've lived long enough to remember the IBM Punch Card first hand, just ask and we'll SPEAK LOUDER."

Image Credit: IBM

You youngsters probably had optical storage on your first computers. Sadly I've actually handled most of these data formats (except the paper tape). Funny story, when I started my current job, the garland and topper on the office Christmas tree were made of old punch cards and many of the ornaments were made from the internal rings on magnetic tapes. Hey at least they were recycling.