This week in class we covered important inventions that have allowed our society to evolve. One such invention that has been paramount to our success over the past thirty or so years is that of the ability to physically carry large amounts of data. Our methods of physical data transfer are one of the most evident signs of the times. We were first able to do this outside of conventional methods of physically punching holes in tape with tape drives.
Economies of scale and improvement in technology led to the birth of 3.5" floppy disks. Floppy disks began in the 1970s and quickly proliferated during the '80s to become the method of choice for storing data. Eventually, the vast amount of data created during the '90s required some installation packages, such as Windows, to require a dozen disks or more. CD-ROM resolved this inefficiency, since it was able to contain much more space.
CD-ROM was developed by Sony and Phillips in 1985, and have had the most influence on us out of any sort of storage medium. CD-ROMs have also improved and are a precursor for the DVD. We've also been able to make double-layered CD-ROMs and DVDs, which have enhanced our capacity. Flash drives have most recently been our new preferred medium, since they are not only spacious but also compact. Larger quantities of data, however, might be required to use a new medium in the future. Perhaps a BD-DVD?
Remember the lesson from the '79 song: "Video Killed The Radio Star"
This is amazing how we have been able to compile all of this data in such a transportable way. It is great for classes when we can take our projects with us on flashdrives. Although, I wish that our generation wasn't so technologically advanced because I feel that things have become less human.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing how all of those items above came out bulky, heavy, with little memory. Now they're smaller, lighter, have more memory and. some with expandable memory. The cd rom is barely used anymore. Now we just download from the internet.
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