Autumn Sun ☀️ on Nostr: In 1990, our data storage was *heavy* 3,5" hard drives that stored 20-40 Megabytes, ...

In 1990, our data storage was *heavy* 3,5" hard drives that stored 20-40 Megabytes, and HD floppy disks that stored 1,440 Kilobytes. People with plenty of cash had CD drives attached to their computers. CD /writers/ weren't a thing.

In 2000, hard drives wete still 3,5", but they held a thousand times more data than before. Floppies were slowly on their way out; everyone had CD readers, most had CD writers and a few had DVD drives.

In 2010, 3,5" hard drives were still a thing and they stored fifty times more data than before. Everone had DVD drives, many had DVD writers. HDDVD and BluRay (storing 20-25 GB of data) had become a thing. The floppy disk was a relic of the past. Laptop computers (using 2,5" hard drives) were not particularly expensive anymore and had become commonplace.

2020: 3,5" hard drives are still a thing and they store up to ten times more than before. SSDs with no moving parts are now becoming widespread in sizes up to around 256 GB. DVDs are common roughly the same way that VHS tapes of the 1980s are, both in home mivie collections and bargain bins for a quid or two. BluRay won over HDDVD but is rarely seen outside of tv/move/entertainment systems use. CDs aren't used anymore except by old-timers; most people stream their music. The LP music record is making a comeback.

2025: Soon... Hard drives store at least one thousand gigabytes of data, and up to 30 thousand gigabytes for the best of the best. SSDs start at 256 gigabytes and go to 8000-16000 for consumers at least. BluRay discs have reached quad-layer, able to store 100 GB, but very few people care about them any more. DVDs are old stuff now that's found either in a box in your attic or the odd disney animation or "my little pony" video in the mess in your kids' room. If your computer takes up more space than a laptop or a lunchbox, then you're a geek or a gamer (or both).

#tech #history