Category Archives: Information storage
Magnetic Core Memory Patented
Today in 1956, Jay Forrester of MIT was awarded a patent for his magnetic core memory. It became the standard for computer memory until it was supplanted by solid state RAM in the mid-seventies. It has continued to be used, … Continue reading
Computer Tape Automation Born
Fifty years ago today, IBM announced the Hypertape Automatic Cartridge Loader, the first device to permit automatic loading and unloading of magnetic tape for electronic computers. Ten years earlier, IBM introduced the magnetic tape drive vacuum column, making it possible for … Continue reading
Spinning Disks
Fifty-five years ago today, IBM introduced the disk drive. In 1953, Arthur J. Critchlow, a young member of IBM’s advanced technologies research lab in San Jose, California, was assigned the task of finding a better information storage medium than punch-cards. … Continue reading
Tomorrow’s News: Storing Big Data
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have developed Moneta, a phase-change memory (PCM) solid state storage device that is thousands of times faster than conventional hard drives and up to seven times faster than current solid-state drives … Continue reading
Posted in Big Data, Futures, Information storage
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What happens when you store information on a single atom?
IBM knows. See here and here and here.
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Random access to information
In 1953, Arthur J. Critchlow, a young member of IBM’s advanced technologies research lab in San Jose, California, was assigned the task of finding a better information storage medium than punch-cards. Visiting a number of customers, Critchlow learned that punch-card … Continue reading
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This day in information: Birth of the disk drive
Today in 1956, IBM announced the 305 RAMAC (Random Access Memory Accounting), the first disk storage product. It came with fifty 24-inch disks for a total capacity of 5 megabytes, weighed 1 ton, and could be leased for $3,200 per … Continue reading
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The Story of Information 