Slashdot Mirror
IBM Reinvents Punch Cards
grim_thing writes "I.B.M. scientists say they have created a data-storage technology that can store the equivalent of 200 CD-ROM's on a surface the size of a postage stamp. Writing in the current issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, researchers at I.B.M.'s laboratories in Zurich report that they have achieved a storage density of one trillion bits of data per square inch, about 25 times as great as current hard disks." Reuters also has a story.
What if one's data contains dimpled chads? How will those bits be counted?
You are not the customer.
So, is the data stored in blocks of 25 rows of 80 columns? This will be handy for FORTH systems without file systems, and FORTRAN IV,66 and 77 programmers.
Stick Men
Any projection on data loss due to hanging chads?
Can we get that translated into a tandard measurement, like Library's of Congress?
His holes are 10 nanometers ... and about 3 billion of them fit in a punch card hole
I read the news today, oh boy
4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancastershire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on
I'd hate to drop a deck of punch cards that size. You'd need a microscope to put them back in order.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
Does this mean that the people who are running these old systems can finally upgrade?
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Why does this sound like the Google Page Ranking System based on Pigeon Technology?
I don't know, there may be some prior art here.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
1984: Wow! Twenty megabytes! I'll never use all this space! ... Ah, screw it.
1988: Wow! Eighty megabytes! I'll never use all this space!
1994: Wow! A gigabyte! I'll never use all this space!
1999: Uh, wow. Twenty gigabytes? I don't think I'll ever use all this space.
2002: A hundred and twenty gigs? I... hm.
2005:
How short do you think the life cycle is on these things? You're looking at a minimum of 5 to 10 years for most lab findings to make it to market. And don't forget, the all-mighty economy comes into play too. If it can't be produced cheaply enough in large enough quantities, it just becomes, "research results upon which other research is based on"
The toys you're using now are the result of announcements made a long time ago. It's just that our memories are short. I remember many years ago when WORM drives first came out - ooh...1GB of storage - so what if you can only write it once, you'll never run out of that much space, *drool* *slaver*... Now I have a desk covered in CD's, half of which are from AOL...
In Soviet Russia, hot grits put YOU down THEIR pants.
Wait. Nevermind.
Somebody's been playing waaay too much Starcraft. The only way of generating an EMP Blast of any appreciable size or strength carries with it some other pesky side effects, as well. That, and if such an EMP blast is ever generated, well, it'll take us a while to lament the loss of long-term digital archives...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
out as the demo 'discs'. Postage Stamp on one side and 330 hours! on the back, plus the new version of Netscape, which will take up the rest of the space.
The measurement of Libraries of Congress/hectare is getting less and less useful. Since the Library of Congress does store audio information, and the number of bits on a phonograph can fluctuate greatly... I mean, we've been measuring data in LoC's since the early 80's. Surely the LoC has much more data now than in the far forgotten past?
Isn't it better to measure in #of pages of single spaced text in feet? I.e. : That disk can hold enough data to store a stack of paper 300' tall printed with nothing but ones and zeros. But then we get into arguments about how thick the paper is...
:-/
Hmm...
Unless of course you loo[sic]se it.
This reminds me of a revelation I had a few years ago, after getting my first CD-ROM drive. I'd manage to misplace a CD containing a multimedia encyclopedia and eventually found it sitting on the floor under my desk. I realised then that never before in human history had it been possible to lose an entire 28 volume encyclopedia by dropping it behind a piece of furniture. Now that's what I call progress!
"Are you being weird, or sarcastic?" said Emma. I said I didn't know because I get the two feelings mixed up.
(yeah, I know... the sig is wrong... so what?)
You could make it:
667 The creepy neighbor across the street from the Beast
or
667 The guy across the street from the Beast, who despite several complaints to the Homeowner's Association, still hasn't mowed his lawn to regulation height!
or...
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
I must admit, I love this quote: The technology, ... was conceived by two scientists at IBM's Zurich research labs, who discussed the idea over beer after the company's weekly soccer games
Hey, here's to drinking and computer development!!
--Keeping the flame wars alive, one post at a time
640 Kb will be enough for everyone.
Shh! Not too loud! The (RI|MP)A(A) might read it! ;-)
I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
. . . about 25 times as great as current hard disks.
All right, so how much denser is it than punch cards?
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
...if anyone works at the post office, please be on the lookout for a letter from IBM labs, I left my glasses at home, and it looked like a stamp...
Maybe now this phrase can make a comeback.