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oceanwaiting t1_j2tythq wrote

Reply to comment by ApiContraption in PsBattle: Man holding a 10 MB hard disk drive platter by AndyJack86

There are still systems actively using these discs. It's wild.

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ForTheHordeKT t1_j2tzwae wrote

With just 10mb on that fucker and some places still using them? Jesus, I'll bet you can see each MB etched into that thing lol.

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ManyIdeasNoProgress t1_j2u65id wrote

If we assume diametre 80cm, it is approximately half a square metre, or 500.000 square millimetres. This gives us a density of 20 bits per square millimetre.

Modern disks are on the order of 200.000.000 bits per square millimetre.

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night-otter t1_j2vw8c2 wrote

I used to repair these suckers.

Military used them, in the 90s (were still in use in 89 when I left).

Due to the low density of bits, they can survive a EMP blast without corrupting the data.

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aruexperienced t1_j2w63eo wrote

This particular one is pre 80s and possibly pre 60s. The IBM 2311 platters were smaller than the one shown and dominated the industry. They date back to the 50s. My dad used to store the IBM disks in blue plastic drum containers in the shed and we were told never to “touch them or tell anyone we had them”.

People forget how slow technology used to move. I saw my first CD player in 1984 as a child and it had been out a few years even then.

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night-otter t1_j2xy5yc wrote

Oh the systems I worked on were from the 60s, still in operation in the late 80s, still in operation when I departed the location.

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aruexperienced t1_j31qywq wrote

It's crazy how old storage mediums were treated, both as a medium and as a standard. I suppose the 'if it aint broke dont fix it' mantra was written in stone.

I heard that the Nasa tapes from the moon landing SSTV tapes were basically erased in the 80s so they could be re-used and only announced in 2009.

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