"Winchester" is a generic term applied to the majority of rigid 8-inch and 5.25-inch fixed media disk drives. The Winchester disk drive was first introduced by IBM in 1973 with the initial shipment of the IBM model 3340 disk drive. The 3340 had two spindles, each storing 30 Megabytes. After numerous references to it as the 30-30, it was nicknamed the "Winchester" because of its resemblance to the similar caliber of a popular Winchester rifle dating back to the Old West.
Even though the market for low-end 5.25 inch Winchester disk drives for micros has yet to hit full stride, designers are already looking ahead to new applications for their hardware, and are planning to introduce second generation high-capacity, high-performance rigid-disk drives with storage in the range of 30 to 50 megabytes. The new units may cost as little as $3,000. Several vendors are scheduling volume shipments of the new Winchesters during the first quarter of 1983.
The new Winchesters are characterized not only by increased capacities, but also by significantly enhanced performance. The average positioning times associated with the small Winchesters now available cannot meet the needs of the multi-user environment required in most library applications. In order to provide the response times library systems need, designers must move up to the big-drive performance that the new Winchesters will offer.
Simultaneously, prices of the low-end Winchesters-the small 6 to 20 Megabyte (MB) storage devices used with many micros are dropping rapidly. The smallest drives for Apples and TRS 80s now cost less than $2,500 retail and only $650 wholesale-a 40 percent drop since late 1981. Strong demand has been a major factor in the price decrease but the appearance of the larger drives for $3,500 or less has probably had the greatest effect. Prices may drop still further later this year when several Japanese imports become available on the U.S. and Canadian markets.
