From Player Pianos to the Cloud: The History of Data Storage

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Image: Mashable Composite. iStockphoto, mightyisland, maximmmmum

By Max Knoblauch2014-04-30 11:06:00 UTC

When you think about player pianos, your thoughts probably gravitate toward creepy ghosts rather than data storage innovation.

But you're wrong. The machines "know" which keys to play by reading data stored in punch cards — pieces of stock paper with holes punched into them. In the late 19th century, American inventor Herman Hollerith invented an electronic means by which to tabulate the information stored on them. In doing so, he set in motion modern data storage.

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The history of data storage is a story of decreasing sizes and increasing capacities. From magnetic tape to floppy discs to cloud-based storage, innovations in compression have saved countless hours and increased the capabilities of today's technology.

The folks at Backupify created a timeline of different devices that have held our files throughout the years. Take a look back and see how far we've come.

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Topics: big data, cloud, data, data storage, Dev & Design, Gadgets, Tech