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60 Years Ago: IBM Invents The Hard Drive

In 1952, IBM began the research project that would create the first hard drive. Random-access mass-storage is, of course, a fundamentally important technology. Imagine having to search tape for everything.

Circa 1956-57 was when the IBM 350 disk storage unit, a component of the IBM 305 RAMAC computer, the computer incorporating the hard drive, came to market. IBM put together a short movie on the project, which was based in San Jose, Calif. IBM, it seems, was one of the original Silicon Valley companies.

Look at those haircuts! Look at the cars and skirt lengths! Most of all, look at corporate America as it was over half a century ago.

Hat tip to Esther Schindler on Facebook.