And now I have a database with 2 copies of the MN drivers license database and 1 copy of the WI DL database - the compressed encrypted backup image only takes up half of the 1GB memory key on my key chain. --rick Jerry Weihrauch wrote: > Mike Miller wrote: > >> >> >> I remember sitting in a classroom in 1987 and hearing that it >> wouldn't be long before we'd be talking about "gigabytes." I thought >> it was true, but it was still amazing to dream about it. Now we're >> talking about terabytes. >> >> Back in those days an older professor told me about his work in the >> 1960s on an old computer that needed an HDD. They were storing >> everything on cards. Reboots took a long time but were frequently >> needed. So they managed to convince the university (UW-Madison) to >> buy them an HDD. It was 1966 and the HDD cost $65,000. It held 2 MB >> and I think it was as big as a washing machine. It probably seemed >> like a lot of storage space at the time. >> >> I bought my first HDD in 1986. It cost me $450 and it held 30 MB >> because it was a true 20 MB drive with an RLL controller that added >> 50% to the volume. Back then 30 MB went a long, long way. You >> *could* still do your work on two 360 KB 5.25" floppies (e.g., >> WordPerfect 4.2 on one floppy and your data on the other), but it was >> beginning to get uncomfortable. This was before I had a "high >> density" floppy drive that held about 1.2 MB on a single 5.25" floppy >> - that was luxurious! >> >> Mike >> >> >> > The first HDD I remember was at the Minnesota Department of > Transportation about 1965, not sure of the storage size but the "drum" > was six feet long and about two feet in diameter. The drive was in a > cabinet with large windows so every one could watch it spin. It was > going to hold all the drivers license, vehicle license and state crime > records on the HDD, maybe one meg? Would say back in 1965 the state > population was around two million, so one third of the population may > have had drivers license and half owned a vehicle and criminal records > one tenth? > > Jerry > > > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list