Storage devices

punch cards

Jan 1, 1725

http://gadgets.fosfor.se/history-of-data-storage/a punch card was the oldest way known how to actually store information, exept for writing by hand. They were created by Basile Bouchon. He used perforated paper to store paterns, which were little holes in the paper. these patterns were used to make cloth.

Punch Tape

Jul 1, 1937

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_tapePunched tape was an extension/improvement of the punched card. It was widely used throughout the 20th century.

Hard disk

Jan 1, 1956

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_driveA hard disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. An HDD retains its data even when powered off HDDs were introduced in 1956 as data storage for an IBM real-time transaction processing computer[2] and were developed for use with general purpose mainframe and minicomputers

Semiconductor Read-Only-Memory Chips Appear

Jan 1, 1965

http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1965-ROM.htmlSemiconductor read-only-memories (ROMs) offer high density and low cost per bit.

IBM Creates the First Floppy Disk

Jul 10, 1967

Floppy disks were a form of data storage and exchange from the mid-1970s well into the first decade of the 21st century. They were read in Floppy Disk Drives (FDD). I think this should be included in the timeline. Floppy Disks were the cornerswtone of data storage and exchange! We may not use them now, but they are still important to the advancement of computers.

The Floppy Disk

Nov 8, 1969

The first floppy drives manufactured were 8 inches in diameter and could hold 79.7kb of information.

Cassette Tape

Oct 1, 1972

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_CassetteThe cassette tape was a magnetic audio tape that a could hold 660kB of storage per side. It was the easiest, cheapest way to store data until the floppy disk became more accessible and less expensive.

The 5.25' and 3.5' Floppy Drive

Jan 1, 1976

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk5.25 inch floppy disks were one-sided and had a capacity of 360 kB. They were used mainly by private users, until replaced by the by the 3.5 inch floppy disk, which had a capacity of 1.44 mB.

Laser disk

Oct 18, 1978

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserDiscLaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known as simply "DiscoVision") in North America in 1978.

Compact Disk (CD)

Mar 1, 1979

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/CD-RThe CD was first produced by Sony and Philips. It could hold up to 700MB of audio and other data.

Flash memory

Jan 1, 1980

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memoryFlash memory was invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka while working for Toshiba circa 1980. Masuoka and colleagues presented the invention at the IEEE 1984 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Francisco. Limitations: Block erasure, read disturb, memory wear. Some applications: Serial flash, firmware storage, flash memory as a replacement for hard drives, flash memory as RAM

CD-R

May 2, 1990

This format is still used. It's 700 MB storage capacity, high quality, and low price helped it surpass the floppy and survive the rise of the Zip and Jaz discs.

Zip Drives (disks)

Aug 27, 1994

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/CD-RZip drives, also called zip disks, are a removable storage disk introduced by Iomega. The original disks had a 100MB capacity, but later versions had 250MB and 750MB. These devices were ideal for large documents and design files. However, they were quickly replaced by floppy discs and were favored over CD-Rs because they were re-writable.

Jaz Disks

Jun 1, 1995

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaz_driveJaz Disks were a removable hard disk device introduced by Iomega. They are now obsolete. They had a 1 GB capacity and were mainly used by home users.

USB Flashdrive

Jan 1, 2000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvv_6Mrs1PU
The first flashdrives to be sold commercially had an amazing 8MB of storage space. This was more then five times the amount a floppy disk could hold.

SD Cards

Aug 1, 2000

SD cards are a portable memory card originally produced by SanDisk and Toshiba. They can hold up to 32 MB of storage. When introduced, it gained popularity in handheld devices. They are thin as quarters, and have evolved to no longer be restricted by the physical size of the device.

Blu-Ray disks / HD-DVD s

Mar 3, 2006

these special disks are very new, and were created in early 2006. they function by using organic dyes, and look very much like CDs and DVDs. they can hold a capacity from 20GB to 40GB and do the same job as a CD ROM / CD R

holograpic versatile disk (HVD)

Oct 19, 2009

these are very new disks created, for use in the future. What would you say about having a Holographic Versatile Disc that could store 160 times more data than a Blu-Ray disc. 3.9 TB of data on one disc – or approximately 4,600 to 11,900 hours of video using MPEG4 encoding!!!!

Cloud Storage

Apr 1, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_storageCloud storage is online storage. With online services, consumers can access limitless storage from any Internet connected device.