Sdružení přátel historických počítačů je dobrovolná zájmová organizace, jejímž cílem je popularizace výpočetní techniky a její historie mezi širokou veřejností a zachování historické výpočetní techniky pro budoucnost.

11.12.07

1956: 5MB pevný disk IBM

clipped from www.snopes.com

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THIS IS?




Its a hard disk in 1956....


The Volume and Size of 5MB memory storage in 1956.


In September 1956 IBM launched the 305 RAMAC, the first computer with a hard disk drive (HDD). The HDD weighed over a ton and stored 5MB of data.

Makes you appreciate your 4 GB USB drive, doesn't it?

The 350 Disk Storage Unit consisted of the magnetic disk memory unit with its access mechanism, the electronic and pneumatic controls for the access mechanism, and a small air compressor. Assembled with covers, the 350 was 60 inches long, 68 inches high and 29 inches deep. It was configured with 50 magnetic disks containing 50,000 sectors, each of which held 100 alphanumeric characters, for a capacity of 5 million characters.

An IBM RAMAC 305 with a 350 disk storage unit leased for about $3,200 per month back in 1957. Over a thousand of the 305 systems (one of IBM's last vacuum tube units) were manufactured before production ended in 1961, and the 305 was withdrawn in 1969.
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10.12.07

Před čtvrt stoletím byl C64 králem...

clipped from www.wired.com

Back in the 1980s, prospective computer buyers looked to the Commodore 64 for its tremendous software collection -- more than 10,000 programs were published by the time the machine was discontinued 12 years after its release.


But, as some joked, you could die waiting for any of those programs to finish loading. While the C64 had a cartridge slot, many programs came on a floppy disk, or worse yet, a data cassette tape -- each of which required expensive, slow, failure-prone peripherals to transfer data.


On the upside, display and controller connectivity was a cinch. The unit could be connected directly to a TV, and with two standard 7-pin connectors, most any paddle, mouse or joystick of the era could plug right in, including those for the wildly popular Atari 2600.

Image: Commodore

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