Amazing facts and figures about the evolution of hard disk drives
It took 51 years before hard disk drives reached the size of 1 TB (terabyte, i.e. 1,000 GB). This happened in 2007. In 2009, the initially hard drive with 2 TB of storage arrived. So while it took 51 years to reach the initially terabyte, it took just two years to reach the second.
This article looks back at how hard disk drives have evolved since they initially burst onto the scene in 1956. We’ll examine the radical changes over time for three different aspects of HDDs: Size, storage space, and price.
Changes in physical size over time
The initially hard disk drive, like so many innovations in computing, came from IBM. It was called the IBM Model 350 Disk File and was a huge device. It had 50 24-inch disks contained inside a cabinet that was as large as a cupboard and anything but lightweight. This hulk of a storage unit could store a whopping 5 MB of data.
Above: An IBM Model 350 Disk File being delivered. Yes, that’s ONE hard disk drive unit.
Although hard disk drives kept humanizing, disorder-of-the art disks were built according to the concept “larger is better” well into the ‘80s. Hard disk drives were naturally used together with huge mainframe computers, so this was not such a huge deal. Entire place to stay were by now set aside for the computers.
Case in point, here not more than is a 250 MB hard disk drive from 1979.
Above: Disorder-of-the-art hard disk drive from the ‘70s.
IBM introduced the initially hard disk drive to break the 1 GB barrier in 1980. It was called the IBM 3380 and could store 2.52 GB (500 times more than the consumer options at the time). Its cabinet was in this area the size of a refrigerator and the whole thing weighed in at 550 pounds (250 kg).
Above: The disk drive module of the IBM 3380.
Early in the ‘80s, smaller “consumer” hard disk drives designed to be used with the increasingly well loved microcomputers (now known as PCs) started to appear. The initially ones were 5 MB in size and had a form factor of 5.25 inches.
For a visual on how hard disk drive sizes have changed since the ‘80s until today, have a look at the not more than image with an ancient 8-inch drive all the way down to today’s 3.5-inch, 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch drives.
Above: Three decades of shrinkage.
Changes in storage space over time
The initially hard disk drive back in 1956 could store 5 MB of data, which was a huge amount at the time. This is inadvertently also the size of the initially “small” 5.25-inch hard disk drive that arrived in 1980. We went from having to have a special room for the hard disk drive and its computer, to having one we could place inside a desktop computer.
Ten years shortly, in 1990, a normal hard drive held in this area 40 MB, with more expensive options able to store more than 100 MB.
Quick forward to present day, and you can buy a 3.5-inch hard disk drive with 2 TB of storage space.
To illustrate the tremendous increase in storage space that we have seen in the last 30 years (essentially since the birth of personal computing), we have made a 1980 vs. 2010 side-by-side evaluation chart here not more than.
Note that we have used a logarithmic scale in this chart. Each step on the Y axis is 10 times larger than the one not more than it. If we had used a regular, linear scale, the columns for 1980 would have been less than a pixel high.
As you can see, the gap between a normal versus a top-of-the line hard disk drive in terms of storage space has become much, much smaller than in the past. And as an added bonus, they also have the same physical size these days, which they most certainly did not have back in 1980. No one is making those fridge-sized hard disk drives anymore.
Of course, nowadays we have special storage diplomacy with a gazillion regular hard disk drives crammed inside that have full over the “ridiculously expensive” crown.
And speaking of price…
Changes in price over time
As with any rare commodity, early hard drives were extremely expensive and were used with equally huge and expensive mainframe computers.
The initially hard disk drive, the IBM Model 350 Disk File we mentioned above, wasn’t something you got as a stand-lonely unit. It wasn’t even something you bought. Instead you could rent the IBM 305 RAMAC computer that came with the 350 Disk File for $3,200 per month. Needless to say, back in ‘50s this was a lot more money than it is now.
The largest and best hard disk drives kept being an expensive proposition. When it finally started selling in 1981 after some initial delivery hickups, the price for the 2.52 GB refrigerator-sized IBM 3380 started at $81,000. And then you of course needed a computer to use it with…
The initially 5.25-inch 5 MB hard disk drives (i.e. the consumer option) in the ‘80s cost well over $3,000. Similar prices remained for the 10 MB drives that soon replaced them. This probably clarifies why most PCs were initially sold without a hard disk drive, instead relying on floppy disk drives.
As storage space has increased, it has also become infinitely more affordable. The average cost per GB has over the last 30 years gone from way over $100,000 to just a few cents. Now that’s inflation…
Factoid: A 5 MB hard disk drive from Apple cost $3,500 in 1981. That’s $700,000 per GB.
And of course, 30 years ago most public couldn’t get their hands on 1 GB of storage even if they tried.
A promotion video of the initially hard drive
To round off this retrospective, here is some vintage promotion material in this area the 1956 IBM 305 RAMAC computer and its incredible new innovation, the IBM 350 Disk File. This is tech geek gold. If you can mind this without getting a smile on your face, please get some help. 
Another 30 years into the future
Considering that we now have tiny, cheap USB sticks that can hold up to 64 GB of data, which is in this area 1,600 times more than a normal hard disk drive in 1990 (40 MB), and 12,800 times more than the initially consumer hard disk drive in 1980, things have certainly stirred forward.
And just like we are now looking back and shaking our heads at the incredible difference between now and a few decades ago, we will, thirty or so years from now, look back at 2010 and shake our heads with similar amazement. “Was storage really that primitive back then?”
Picture Sources:
The IBM 350 Disk File from IBM via ed-thelen.org. 250 MB hard disk drive from 1979. Hard disk drives of multiple sizes by Paul R. Potts. IBM 3380 disk drive module by ArnoldReinhold (Wikimedia Commons). Closeup of HDD head by Alexdi (Wikimedia Commons).
Wikipedia was, as it so often is, a fantastic help when checking out the facts and figures.
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Incredible facts and figures in this area the evolution of hard disk drives
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