The design of the CD was originally conceived as an evolution of the gramophone record, rather than primarily as a data storage medium. (At the end of the 1970s, Philips, Sony, and other companies presented prototypes of digital audio discs.)From its origins as a music format, Compact Disc has grown to encompass other applications. In 1985, the CD-ROM (read-only memory), developed by Sony and Philips, was introduced. With this it was now possible to disseminate massive amounts (for the time) of computer data instead of digital sound. A CD can store around 640 megabytes of data, several hundred times as much as the most popular software distribution medium of the time, the floppy disk.