Data storage covers many areas. Anywhere information is stored for later retrieval can be considered “data storage”. Although it's not the first thing that comes to mind, a billboard advertisement is data storage. The advertisement (data) is intended to be read (retrieved) by many people. Other examples that might more easily come to mind include checkbooks (storing your financial information), binders, and books, among others. What we will attempt to do here is present a (brief) history of data storage, particularly as it applies to computers and describes current technologies used to store data and their limitations. We also want to discuss the exciting data storage technologies that are on the horizon. These new technologies will keep data storage inexpensive and reliable. Computers, basically, only have two recognized states: on and off. When it processes information, all it sees is a series of ones and zeros. These ones and zeros are called “bits,” and computers are what are called “binary machines,” meaning they process ones and zeros, or binary information. So a character such as S is represented on the computer as 01010011 (8 bits are called bytes). Be careful! This will be important later, because this is also how computers store data. A brief, but (almost) entirely inaccurate, history of data storage. A long time ago, man began wanting to store data. He realized that always trying to rely on human memory can have pitfalls. There had to be a way to increase the human's memory capacity. Thus, data storage. Early attempts at data storage used sun-dried clay tablets with characters inscribed on them. They soon realized that this was not entirely effective. You didn't need to write much before you couldn't carry it around with you anymore. Pocketbooks® would never have flown, let alone walked. Well, he could have walked, but with great difficulty. But I digress. The search for more efficient data storage methods began. The Egyptians had the idea of ​​making paper from papi--, papy--, river reeds. Now they could store a lot of information, in funny little print that no one could read before the Rosetta Stone, in a much smaller space..