[cctalk] Re: Ramac : The real first disk drive? (Was: Floppy disk (fwd)

On Jun 10, 2026, at 7:32 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: Didn't show up on the list, so re-sending it: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:14:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Fred Cisin <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> Subject: [cctalk] Ramac : The real first disk drive? (Was: Floppy disk The first known and recognized disk drive of ANY type (hard disk preceded floppy) was the Ramac, 70 years ago, 1956 https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/first-commercial-hard-disk-dr… First one shipped was to Crown-Zellerbach Paper Company CHM says June; EDN and Google AI (Gemini) say September 13, 1956 https://www.edn.com/ibm-intros-1st-computer-disk-storage-unit-september-13-… But, Gemini seems to also hallucinate RAMAC as being a company! "At the 1958 Worlds Fair, RAMAC showcased its revolutionary random-access capabilities by answering world history questions in 10 different languages." (There was no Ramac Company exhibiting at the 1958 Worlds Fair) Ramac had fifty 2 foot diameter double sided platters, and could hold a total of about 5MB. Modern drives can have even higher density! I have a crashed Ramac platter, that I have made into a patio table, with the platter under glass.