[inforoots] The hard drive turns 50

[Utleyb at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/21/2006 3:16:12 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
jcgreen00 at comcast.net writes:

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SJ Mercury article dated  yesterday is on their  website:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/15318980.htm

celebrating  50th anniversary of 13SEP1956 announcement of RAMAC
a little early.   It says in part:


It cost about $50,000 a year  to lease in 1956 dollars --
equivalent to nearly  $350,000 today -- and had 5 megabytes
of information,  about enough space to store one song on an
iPod.

That sounds a little high.  Some time with Google got me  to:

www.magneticdiskheritagecenter.org/MDHC/MILESTONE/Emerson%20Pugh%20talk.pdf

says  it rented for $650 per month which is $7,800 per year.  If
memory  serves IBM's multiplier of 7 times a year's lease price
gives an implicit  list price of $54,600 or about a penny a byte.

Anybody know for  sure?

Regards,
John  Green



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IBM's archives reveal a price of $10,000 per megabyte or $50,000.  One  of my 
accounts in San Francisco, Zellerback Paper, had the number 3 prototype  
which was the 305A Ramac.  It was used for application development  purposes.  I 
do not recall it ever going live.
 
Brian Utley
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