In 1994, multimedia discs—from encyclopedias to magazines—flooded the market, and felt like the future. It was fun while it lasted. At the time, it was the CD-ROM that had captured the imagination of ...

Data storage mechanisms have come a long way since IBM proudly introduced the first "memory disk" in 1971. By the end of the '70s, a number of manufacturers were churning out 5.25-in. floppy disks.