Global data storage calculated at 295 exabytes

[TimberWolf]

The study, published in the journal Science, calculates the amount of data stored in the world by 2007 as 295 exabytes.

That is the equivalent of 1.2 billion average hard drives.

BBC News - Global data storage calculated at 295 exabytes

Or, less impressively, by my calculation:

295 exabytes = 295 * 10^18 bytes = 2.36*10^21 bits.
If each bit were represented by the presence or absence of a helium atom of diameter 32*10^(-12)m, the sum of all human knowledge could be contained in a cube with sides 0.4mm. Or about the size, if not taste, of a grain of sugar. Not sure what it would taste like, not much probably and it wouldn't even make your voice go appreciably higher. And if a bit were instead the size of a plank length, the cube would have sides 1*10^23 times smaller than that. Much smaller than an atom and too small to be seen with any instrument, save particle smashers. Wow

[Board Game Geek]

The study, published in the journal Science, calculates the amount of data stored in the world by 2007 as 295 exabytes.

What the study failed to disclose was that 99.99% of the storage was for porn. The other .01% was just worthless junk.

[TimberWolf]

What the study failed to disclose was that 99.99% of the storage was for porn. The other .01% was just worthless junk.

Yep, the compression ratio could be great. Probably a single hard drive would cover the lot.