The most important invention of the 20th century? To one who was there, it was disk

Computer Technology Review, April, 2004 by Mark Ferelli

If RAMAC hadn't come along we would be back in the 1940s in terms of technology--the number of bank tellers we would have, the number of airline people we would have, the number of hospitals we would have, the number of educators we would have, the number of doctors we would have ... It affects every facet of your life, whether you realize it or not.

Even when you buy gas at the gas station, there's a disk somewhere that's moving around and keeping track of everything that's going on. Every time you use a credit card. Every time you write a check. Every time you make a telephone call. All that stuff is recorded on disk somewhere. And it doesn't have to be close to you. I don't know how United Airlines works anymore, but it used to be no matter where you went everything happened in Denver. For American Airlines, it was in Miami. You're in a little town in Omaha or somewhere, making a reservation, and the disk is moving down in Miami. So it's really been a tremendous accomplishment. In fact, about 10 years ago, I argued about what was the most important invention of the 20th century. And I argued for disk.