Hard Disk Drive

Hello there. My name is Hard Disk Drive. You can think of me as a special memory box for a computer. I am like the computer’s brain. I hold all its favorite things safe and sound inside me. Before I came along, computers were very, very forgetful. They would learn something new, and then poof. The memory was gone. They couldn't remember pictures or stories for very long at all, which was a little sad.

But then, I was born. My story began in a big, busy workshop at a place called IBM. It was a very exciting day on September 13th, 1956. A kind and clever man named Reynold B. Johnson and his team of helpers worked together to create me. When I was new, I was huge. I was as big as two refrigerators standing next to each other. Wow. Inside my giant box, shiny plates would spin and spin, round and round. They whirred and hummed a happy song as they used a special magic to hold onto information.

My most important job is to remember. I hold your happy family photos and your favorite sleepy-time songs. I even remember how to play your fun games. Over the years, I learned a new trick. I learned how to get smaller and smaller, but still remember just as much. I went from being a giant to being so tiny I can fit right inside your family's laptop. It makes me feel so proud and happy to keep all your precious memories safe, so you can see them and hear them again and again.