Guest ordep Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 R.I.P. Floppy Disk"FLOPPY DISK, the palm-sized magnetic data storage device, is whirring its last goodbye. Fondly known as "diskette", the floppy disk became a fixture of the personal computer market in the 1980s and 90s, along with its perfectly matched paramour Floppy Disk Drive. Happier times But the decision by Dell Computers to banish disk drives from its higher spec machines has spelled a conclusive end. Where Dell goes, according to received techie wisdom, the rest follow. Some friends will have perhaps seen an indication of its fate in the introduction of the floppy disk-less iMac in 1998. The floppy disk first emerged in the early 70s, conceived as an 8-inch disk by IBM. It was soon usurped by the 5¼-inch disk - a true floppy thanks to its bendable casing - which could handle 360 kilobytes of data. By the early 80s the floppy had mutated again, this time into a more robust 3½-inch disk which could handle 1.44 megabytes of data - that's about enough for a three-minute song, or 11 copies of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. By 1997, when production peaked at five billion, floppy disks were everywhere, mainly because their limited capacity meant it took half a dozen to store even a moderately-sized program. The emergence of alternatives such as the CD-RW, which has a storage capacity almost 500 times that of a floppy, and the internet, which enabled swift transfer of floppy-sized files, were effectively its death knell. Its passing will be particularly mourned by double entendre opportunists. But the floppy is sure to live on in decidedly lo-tech incarnations (drinks coasters). No flowers."Taken from the BBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Calcutta Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 interesting article ordep .. thanks :) i was sure that once dell went the floppyless route others would follow too .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TERBOW Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 its a sad day for our old friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Calcutta Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 according to your pic thats a zip disk terbow :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 thats not a floppy its a zip disc :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest he he :-)™ Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 awwww.... I used to always use floppy diks but then I got a CD-RW... R.I.P floppy disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ironman556 Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Is there absolutely no need for them in setting a PC up anymore then?What about programs like Seagates Disk Wizard which you run from DOS and can save info to the floppy to view later? - But then I 'spose with the lack of DOS in XP it's kinda tricky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankus Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Whats DOS ironman ?"XP an lovin it"Have to move forward or we would be all be still driving model T's..............Was'nt that long ago that 11 copies of Macbeth would have been considered a fair volume of info...pre multimedia age...but even your average advert carries more than that.......(uncompressed)I can't wait for holographic memory sticks....beam me up Scotty........................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 I know this topics old but sis is getting a dell not sure if it has a floppy drive but she needs to create a admin password protected account in xp,I thought you were meant to save this password on a floppy so if no floppy what will she do if she forgets it :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 USB floppy drive ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nellie2 Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 pen and paper???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 no usb floppy drive,pen and paper,how often does paper go astray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted April 13, 2003 Report Share Posted April 13, 2003 awwww.... I used to always use floppy diks:lol: Im not even gonna comment!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Calcutta Posted April 14, 2003 Report Share Posted April 14, 2003 :o :huh: :P :P :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of Calcutta Posted April 14, 2003 Report Share Posted April 14, 2003 anyways ellas.. they're supposed to give you those usb thingys..the memory sticks wouldn't that do.. and if you really do need a floppy drive you can ask them to install one ya know.. won't be more than a few quid right .. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.