I love that the technology TDK has used to increase maximum disk density to 803 gigabits per square inch is called “Tunneling Magneto-Resistance” and its replacement “Current-Perpendicular-to-Plane Giant Magneto-Resistance.” Man, those sound like stuff you buy for your ship in Escape Velocity.

The precision and force necessary to reliably etch magnetic information into smaller and smaller scales, increasing HDD capacity, is approaching the “not worth it” level, while solid state memory is a younger technology, meaning improvements are comparatively easier (theoretically). TDK is still throwing money at the former, however, being one of the kings of storage tech. Besides the head of the research facility where the Gb/in² record was broken sees a terabit/in² happening with the old TMR tech, suggesting there’s still a fair amount of life left in the spinning disk industry. [awesome pictures of HDD stuff from Data Clinic]