In 2025, an average hard drive in an average PC has a memory size of 1 TB (1,000 GB); 200,000 photos with a size of 5 MB each match. 69 years ago, however, the Tech world looked very different.
In 1956 the IBM 350 appeared, the first hard drive in the world- and it has some impressive specifications to show (viaTechspot).
The size and weight of the first hard drive are remarkable. (Pictures: IBM Archives)
- She weighed a ton.
- It was about the size of two refrigerators.
- Fifty 24-inch plates were served by two arms.
In addition, there is a separate, special cooling system that maintained the optimal temperature and humidity for the magnetic disks.
What do you believe how much storage capacity the IBM 350 had?
The answer to the question:5 MByte. For today's conditions, the memory is dwindingly low. The file size of a high -resolution photo is larger these days.
For 1956, however, 5 MByte were huge amounts of memory.IBMIf this puts this on his website itself: At that time, five million signs of accounting data could be saved. This corresponded to 64,000 hole cards or text that typed about 2.5 million pages.
A typical 2.5-inch SSD with 1 TB memory today weighs about 50 grams. So you need 20,000 SSDs to get the weight of the IBM 350. The storage volume is then 20 petabytes (approx. 20,000 TB).
In 2025 there is still a functioning copy. It is inComputer History MuseumIn Mountain View. A short video of how the hard drive works, you can see here:
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You couldn't buy the hard drive.SeaWikipediaIBM rented the device for $ 650 a month. This corresponds to around $ 7,591 adjusted to inflation today.
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The comparison with today's technology is a struggle David against Goliath. However, the IBM 350 and its associated computer Ramac 305 (Ramac stands for "Random Access Method of Accounting and Control") 25 years later.
In 1981 Apple published its own first hard drive called »Profile«. This also took 5 MB, cost $ 3,500 at the time (adjusted to inflation, which is $ 12,231)-and was compact enough to comfortably sit on the Apple II computer.
