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Computer drive sizes over the years (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 month ago by ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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I just got a new laptop today and when I saw the ssd it blew my mind. Most of my old drives are like the second from left and it's what I think of as a normal drive, buying a standard ssd still feels small to me. But look at that tiny thing to the right! It's the size of a postage stamp!

Assuming I managed to find the right specs (it is a Microscience hh-1050): The monster on the far left is from 1990, holds 40mb, read/write of 0.625mb/s, and weighs almost exactly 2kg. The baby on the far right I got in the mail today, holds 1tb, read/write of 5150mb/s, and weighs about 2.85 grams.

So we're looking at 25,000 times more storage, 8,240 times faster, and 1/700th the weight! And the one on the right is just 1tb, they make one that same model but 2tb. I can barely believe it exists even though I'm literally holding it in my hands.

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[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I've got a full-height 5 1/4" 1GB hard drive around here. Thing is massive.

I've also got most of the storage devices I've ever used over the decades:

  • 5 1/4" floppy
  • 3 1/2" floppy
  • 4mm DAT tape
  • 8mm DAT tape
  • 1/4" QIC tape
  • Zip disk
  • Cassette tape
  • Punched tape

I'm missing the following:

  • DLT tape
  • LTO tape
  • 8" floppy
  • IBM 2315 disk pack

Never used 9-track tapes, punch cards, or removable disk multipacks.

EDIT Don't know how I forgot about cartridges (Atari 400 and 2600 - still got em!) and CDROM/DVD/WORM. I have CDROM, DVDROM (in various formats), but no WORM media (i.e. IBM 3363 - a CDROM in a rigid case, before the official CD standard was created).

[-] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

You need a Jazz drive and a mean looking 20mb MFM hard drive that didn't have auto parking.

[-] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 weeks ago

Syquest cartridges.

[-] myotheraccount@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

Funny how optical discs made it onto none of your lists

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Just a brain fart. I've edited my post to reflect them.

[-] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 weeks ago

Magneto-optical. Even better.

[-] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 weeks ago

I've actually got a little stack of punch cards. It's a program my dad wrote when he was in college, he gave it to me when I started programming

[-] umbraroze@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 weeks ago

Off the top of my mind, stuff that I've used and still have lying around:

  • 5.25" floppies (DSDD, Commodore 64; I think I may have a few HD floppies for PC but I'm not sure if I have a drive for them)
  • 3.5" floppies (HD and some DD, mostly for PC; I have a few PC carcasses that have floppy drives, but I do also have a working USB floppy drive)
  • Cassette tapes (Spectravideo, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64)
  • ROM cartridges (same as above, plus game consoles)
  • Iomega Zip (not sure if the Zip floppies I have have anything relevant; the USB Zip drive is in box somewhere)
  • Iomega Jaz (two disks; not sure if the drive I was actually working last time I used it, could be completely hosed by now, Iomega didn't exactly have a good reputation)
  • A few IDE/PATA hard drives (not sure of the condition)
  • Bunch of CD/DVD/rewritables, I think I have a few unused CD-Rs/DVD-Rs too, never had a Blu-Ray drive for computers
  • USB sticks and hard drives of various descriptions
  • microSD cards used with Raspberry Pi

Funny thing is, I think I have no extra SATA hard drives and modern SSDs lying around, because most of the computers I have that use them are still in operation.

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

I didn't consider hard drives (spinning rust or SSD) because they're generally internal/permanent devices. (although I do have a SATA dock sitting on my desk.)

Hmm. It gets more complicated the more I think about it.

this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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