Oral History of Thomas Coughlin

This oral history records an interview with Thomas Coughlin, one of the best known professionals in the data storage industry. Tom, president of Coughlin Associates, is today a digital storage analyst and business and technology consultant. He has over 40 years in the data storage industry with engineering and senior management positions. Coughlin Associates consults, publishes books and market and technology reports, and puts on digital storage and memory-oriented events. He is a regular contributor for forbes.com and media and entertainment organization websites. He is an IEEE fellow, 2025 IEEE past president, past president IEEE USA, past director IEEE region six, and past chair of the Santa Clara Valley IEEE section. He's also active with SNIA and SMPTE. Interviewed by Ron Dennison on 2025-12-03 © Computer History Museum Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collec... Catalog number: 300000238 Acquisition number: 2025.0207