The Thin Film head, which debuted in 1979. Years later, the Giant Magneto Resistive head, invented by IBM, allowed for greater accuracy in positioning of data, which lead directly to improvements in areal density. The "giant" in GMR doesn't refer to the size of the head but the large changes in resistance that occur when magnetic fields are applied. (Different resistance levels can be tagged as ones and zeros of data.) You could stack up 250,000 of these heads and it would be less than an inch high.
Talkback
More ZDNet Photo Galleries
Meet Doc
-
-
Here to help you with your Document Management Needs
- Doc is an enigma. Born to a Russian ballerina and a German electrical engineer, he grew up in various locations in the United States. He’s seen the insides of more brands, versions, and generations of printer and printer-related hardware than almost anyone.
- To learn more about this mysterious figure check out his blog on ZDNet and his Workspace on TechRepublic. You’ll be glad you did.
-
Produced by
ZDNet and -
