History Platform / MagneticDisk

A form of MediaNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk[[note]]the spelling is an important distinguisher; "disk" with a "K" is specifically for magnetic disks, while "disc" with a "C" is for all other types of discs regardless of what they do[[/note]] that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including MediaNotes/FlashMemory), pricier and faster than Platform/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

A form of UsefulNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk[[note]]the spelling is an important distinguisher; "disk" with a "K" is specifically for magnetic disks, while "disc" with a "C" is for all other types of discs regardless of what they do[[/note]] that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including UsefulNotes/FlashMemory), pricier and faster than Platform/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

The fixed HDD has become utterly ubiquitous, however. In 1980, when a floppy drive add-on kit still cost hundreds of US dollars, a PC with a hard drive was almost unheard of; by 1990, they'd become a must-have, and only the most basic [=PCs=] ''didn't'' have one. As capacities increased and the IDE interface improved, the "fixed disk" spread to game consoles starting with the Xbox and many other devices such as cameras. UsefulNotes/FlashMemory has been steadily edging in on the HDD's turf, especially in portable and high-performance desktop applications, but until the mid-2000s it was uncommon to see a solid-state drive in ''any'' PC, much less a desktop.

A form of UsefulNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk[[note]]the spelling is an important distinguisher; "disk" with a "K" is specifically for magnetic disks, while "disc" with a "C" is for all other types of discs regardless of what they do[[/note]] that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including UsefulNotes/FlashMemory), pricier and faster than UsefulNotes/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[Platform/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the Platform/IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1983, the floppy was one of the preferred forms of software distribution (alongside cassette tape, which hung on through the 1980s outside the US due to its lower cost), only starting to fade away once the [[UsefulNotes/OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1983, the floppy was one of the preferred forms of software distribution (alongside cassette tape, which hung on through the 1980s outside the US due to its lower cost), only starting to fade away once the [[UsefulNotes/OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

A form of UsefulNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[UsefulNotes/RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including UsefulNotes/FlashMemory), pricier and faster than UsefulNotes/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

The fixed HDD has become utterly ubiquitous, however. In 1980, when a floppy drive add-on kit still cost hundreds of US dollars, a PC with a hard drive was almost unheard of; by 1990, they'd become a must-have, and only the most basic [=PCs=] ''didn't'' have one. As capacities increased and the IDE interface improved, the "fixed disk" spread to game consoles starting with the XBox and many other devices such as cameras. UsefulNotes/FlashMemory has been steadily edging in on the HDD's turf, especially in portable and high-performance desktop applications, but until the mid-2000s it was uncommon to see a solid-state drive in ''any'' PC, much less a desktop.
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1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1983, the floppy was one of the preferred forms of DigitalDistribution (alongside cassette tape, which hung on through the 1980s outside the US due to its lower cost), only starting to fade away once the [[UsefulNotes/OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1981, the floppy was the preferred form of SoftwareDistribution, only going away once the [[UsefulNotes/OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

The fixed HDD has become utterly ubiquitous, however. In 1980, they were even more expensive and pie-in-the-sky than even the most expensive floppy disk system; by 1990, they'd become a must-have, and only the most basic [=PCs=] ''didn't'' have one. As capacities increased and the IDE interface improved, the "fixed disk" spread to game consoles starting with the XBox and many other devices such as cameras. UsefulNotes/FlashMemory is starting to edge in on the HDD's turf, but until recently, it was still far too expensive to exist outside the portable market where its smaller energy needs are useful.

1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1981, the floppy was the preferred form of SoftwareDistribution, only going away once the [[UsefulNotes/OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

A form of UsefulNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including UsefulNotes/FlashMemory), pricier and faster than UsefulNotes/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

A form of UsefulNotes/MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including FlashMemory), pricier and faster than UsefulNotes/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

The fixed HDD has become utterly ubiquitous, however. In 1980, they were even more expensive and pie-in-the-sky than even the most expensive floppy disk system; by 1990, they'd become a must-have, and only the most basic [=PCs=] ''didn't'' have one. As capacities increased and the IDE interface improved, the "fixed disk" spread to game consoles starting with the XBox and many other devices such as cameras. FlashMemory is starting to edge in on the HDD's turf, but until recently, it was still far too expensive to exist outside the portable market where its smaller energy needs are useful.

A form of MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including FlashMemory), pricier and faster than UsefulNotes/{{Optical Disc}}s, and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).

1956; floppies weren't introduced until 1971, 15 years later, and didn't really become popular until Shugart Associates (now long since absorbed into Panasonic by way of Xerox) introduced the 5-1/4 inch "minifloppy" (compared to the original 8-inch ones invented at DEC) in 1976. For years, starting with the introduction of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple Disk II]] in 1978 and the IBMPersonalComputer's 360-kilobyte standard in 1981, the floppy was the preferred form of SoftwareDistribution, only going away once the [[OpticalDisc CD-ROM]] hit critical mass around 1995.

A form of MassStorage, one of the earliest popular forms and utterly ubiquitous today. It consists of a spinning disk that is read and written by a magnet called a "head." Magnetic disks are much cheaper and slower than [[RandomAccessMemory RAM]] (including FlashMemory), pricier and faster than [[OpticalDisc Optical Discs]], and can store enormous amounts of data (in recent years reaching measurements in terabytes for larger drives compared to the gigabytes used for even the largest of other storage formats).