system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Five dimensional hard drive

How does it work? We live in only a 3D space.
gpt
"5d" is a misnomer. The storage medium is still 3D, of course, but instead of just using one method of encoding, the "5d" medium uses multiple encoding methods for a single storage location, meaning that a single location can contain more than one bit.

In a CD or DVD, for example, it's strictly bump or no-bump, 0 or 1. But what if those bumps could also be red or blue? And what if they could also be oriented like | or like -? We're already up to 3 possible bits per location, or eight possible values.