http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/160928-five-dimensional-glass-memory-can-store-360tb-per-disc-rugged-enough-to-outlive-the-human-race
As cool as it sounds, I think it hasn’t caught on because it’s too fragile. Imagine, according to the article, that entire 360 Terabytes of data GONE because you’re dog knocked it off the desk, or you were getting your hanky panky on and sat on it, or something more stupid.
That’s why USB sticks caught on because consumers are idiots and prone to accidents, and USB sticks are TOUGH little buggers.
Whatever new media storage technology comes out next, it’s going to have to be flexible and indestructable, but at the same time also capable of storing a lot of data. It might look something like plastic tape.
Because, if my understanding is correct, modern access to digital storage is always via electricity. It’s all about having that electrical charge or not, the universal and tried-and-true “binary” data structure. Unless you can control black holes and store data at 3D coordinates in time-space, you’ll only be able to store data on something material or utilizing nano-technology.