While doing a bit of research, I did a Google search for “largest hard drive,” and I came across an article from Tokyo PC posted in 1998:

IBM’s new 25 gigabyte drive, known as the Deskstar 25GP, operates at 5,400 revolutions per minute and is designed for the consumer PC user. This 25 gigabyte, or billion byte drive is aimed at home or PC hobbyists with an insatiable demand for storing data. Some of you might consider this as storage overkill.

My favorite part is about the hard drive being aimed at those with an “insatiable demand for data storage” – but then again, in 1998, digital video and imaging wasn’t quite in the scene, and people didn’t need a large amount of storage beyond storing documents and the like.

In a few years, I’ll look back at this moment in time and laugh at our 320 and 500 GB hard drives, as we zip along on our multi-terrabyte solid state storage drives (I give it 6 years).