Advances in physical storage and retrieval made the cloud possible

ON September 14th 1956 IBM announced the first commercial computer to use a magnetic hard disk for storage. Weighing in at about 1,000 kilograms, the 305 RAMAC (random access method of accounting and control) was the world’s most expensive jukebox. It stored 4.4 megabytes on 50 double-sided disks, each one measuring two feet in diameter and spinning 1,200 times a minute. Two access arms located and retrieved information in an average time of six-tenths of a second. Companies could lease the machine for $3,200 per month—roughly equivalent to paying $100m annually for a gigabyte of storage today.