Promising to slim the thickness of hard disks and the form factor of the devices that use them, IBM says it's made a breakthrough in the amount of data that can be stored on the surface of a hard disk.
By packing 11.6 gigabits of data into one square inch, researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, say they've doubled their own year-old data-density record of five gigabits per square inch. Layman's translation: Every square inch of disk space could hold 1,450 average-sized novels.
IBM says the news means that in just six years, the average data-storage capacity of disk drives has increased eighteenfold, while the price per megabyte has dropped fifty-twofold. Potential consequences include lighter and smaller drives that consume less energy and space in PCs and notebook computers.
IBM says products featuring 10-gigabit density should appear by 2001.
