http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hQWcIkoqXwg#!

Nostalgia, timeline and comparisons.

What will data storage be like in 2060?

 

Hello,

I think they are making a mistake with the large memory block.
They claim it is 1 Gigabyte, as I think it is only 1 Mega byte.
I have worked with 12 " diskdrives that had only 5 Mega byte per side, per platter.

Bertus

 

They may be right. Check this link http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/04/08/the-history-of-computer-data-storage-in-pictures/, under "The Hard Disk Drive" section.

 

Hello,

The one shown in the link looks larger as the one in the video.
It could be a follow-up of the one shown in the link.

Bertus

 

I too questioned the 1GByte. I have worked with 15" platters that held 5MB total, but this was in the early 1970s. So going by the date, it is conceivable that by 1981 they did make a 1GB hard drive.

 

You know I love you guys, but by principle it's hard to question my two idols, Adam and Jamie.

He left room for error in the end of the video, though.

 

My favorite comment:

ancient hardware...niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice*. almost looks like something out of a steam punk movie.

 

More than likely future storage will be biological. The amount of information stored in the human genome makes our current methods of storage look like the old tube storage compared to modern day storage.

It is estimated that there is 1.5GB of storage in a single human cell.

 

We are already way past 1.5 Terabyte. With memristor tech we will shoot past 100TB with ease, partly because it is a 3d architecture. It is fast too, fast enough to be used as RAM, so while not obsoleting Von Neumann architecture, it will change the architecture of modern computers a bit.

We did not have Gigabyte drives until the late 1990's, generally they were an array. In 1991 I bought a 100MB hard drive and thought how big it was. Windows 3.1 was just around the corner. I used to repair 10Mb Diablo drives. I'm one of the guys they were talking about.

1Gb drive did not become commercially available until the early 2000.

When I was a teen in 1976 I knew I wanted a computer, but commercial ones were not really out, though 8080 DIY kits were starting to appear. You might say I lived the history of commercial computers.

Here is what I own (and in some cases, still own in the attic):

TRS80 Model I (started with 4K RAM, Tiny BASIC, upgraded to 16K, Standard BASIC)
Early model PET (Commodore)
Sinclair
TRS80 Model IV (128K RAM, 2 floppies)
C64 w/ 1541 floppy
C128
XT
286 (homebrew, 50Meg HD). Actually owned a lot of these, they were part of a 5 node BBS, 1 computer per node.
386 SX
486
K6
K6/2 (which I still use, 500Gig HD, 1Gig RAM, Started with Win98SE, now XP. Considered Ancient).

I also got a Altair 6800 w/ 1K RAM to save it from the trash, gave it away to someone who collects museum pieces.

While very dated on software, I understand computers in a way a lot of modern people don't (and think they do).

 

Here is what I own (and in some cases, still own in the attic):

TRS80 Model I (started with 4K RAM, Tiny BASIC, upgraded to 16K, Standard BASIC)
Early model PET (Commodore)
Sinclair

I really miss my PET. I sold it so I could get money to buy and Atari 800 which I still own.

Both were excellent computers for the early hobbyist. The OS and graphics of the Atari was pure genius imho. It made it so easy for the hobbyist programmer to turn out some really great graphics programs.

The sinclair was also ahead of it's time. If we would have had an LCD screen at the time we would have had the first portable computer.