The IT Facts

IBM introduced the first hard disk drive to break the 1GB barrier in 1980. It was called the IBM 3380 and could store 2.52GB (“2.52 billion characters of information,” according to IBM). Its cabinet was about the size of a refrigerator and the whole thing weighed in at 550 pounds (250 kg). It gave users rapid access to a large amount of data, thanks to transferring information at three million characters per second.

Early in the ‘80s, after the first microcomputer Altair 8800, smaller “consumer” hard disk drives designed to be used with the increasingly popular personal computers (now known as PCs) started to appear. The earliest drives installed in these machines, available since 1980, were 5MB in size and had a form factor of 5.25 inches (Seagate ST506).

For a visual of how hard disk drive sizes have changed since the ‘80s until today, have a look at the below image with an old 8-inch drive all the way down to today’s 3.5-inch, 2.5-inch, and 1.8-inch drives.