The year was 2008. Back then, a 1GB microSD card was all I needed to carry my entire digital life and entertainment. My trusty LG phone was at the center of it all. With songs averaging around 5MB each ([unlike this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1P3HDSVogg)), there was more than enough space to save my favorite [pirated](https://www.sutori.com/en/story/history-of-music-piracy--eBQLbohWekBUp4jzJYKiELT3) tunes in multiple genres. Whether commuting or relaxing at the college dorm, music was always within reach on my phone. Video was also starting to go mobile, and [3GP files](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20rpVjk6mAs) were still relatively small by today’s standards. YouTube clips, flash animations, or small movie trailers took up minimal space. I even squeezed a few episodes of certain TV shows into that 1GB memory. I loaded it with content to enjoy whenever I had spare minutes. Compared to today, where people carry around phones with 128GB or more as a standard, going back to a time with such little storage is almost unimaginable. I’m 33 years old. If you are 5 or 10 years older than me, you likely have different recollections of how technology has evolved during your lifetime. You may fondly remember the wonder of getting your first [{n}](https://www.securedatarecovery.com/blog/hdd-storage-evolution)GB hard drive or the joy of downloading a single song over dial-up in several minutes. Reflecting on where we’ve come from helps us understand how transformative devices like smartphones have been and how much more is still to come.