Jan 20, 1934 — Fujifilm Founded

Many people know Fujifilm for its cameras, but in the history of IT, Fujifilm is the “kings of storage media.” If you lived through the floppy disk era, you probably remember their logo on colorful disks in plastic cases. For decades, Fujifilm was one of the main suppliers of data-storage consumables - from the iconic 3.5-inch floppy disks to professional magnetic tapes.

It was Fujifilm that created the first electronic computer in Japan - FUJIC (1956). The funniest part is that they built it “for themselves,” to speed up calculations of lens shapes for their optics. The result was a multi-ton machine with 1,700 vacuum tubes, which became a major breakthrough for the entire Japanese industry.

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Another important contribution to IT that is still alive today is the LTO (Linear Tape-Open) format. Fujifilm, together with IBM, developed this magnetic tape recording technology. You might be surprised, but even today almost all large cloud data centers still use these cartridges for “cold” storage, because tape remains more reliable and cheaper than any SSD or HDD.

Back to Fujifilm: when digital photography “killed” film in the early 2000s, Fujifilm did not go bankrupt (unlike Kodak). Instead, they took a closer look at their expertise in chemistry. It turned out that the technologies used for photographic film were perfectly suited for protective coatings for modern LCD screens. So when you scroll your feed on your phone, there’s a good chance you’re touching Fujifilm technology😊

Company website: https://www.fujifilm.com
About the FUJIC computer: https://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/dawn/0004.html
LTO technology: https://www.lto.org