It proved to be less expensive but slower than drum memory, while being faster and more expensive than tape drives. The first commercial hard disk drive was introduced in 1956 as part of the IBM ...

IBM's second successful commercial computer ... A fully equipped 1401 had 16KB of six-bit core memory and six tape drives. All input was on punch cards, and all output was printed or punched ...

Unlike tape storage, which required sequential ... and more reliable hard drives in the decades that followed. Production of the IBM 305 RAMAC ended in 1961, as it became obsolete following ...