PC World says farewell to floppy

zippyjuan · 01-30-2007, 12:41 PM

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 16:45 GMT

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PC World says farewell to floppy

PC World is selling its last floppy disks
The time has come to bid farewell to one of the PC's more stalwart friends - the floppy disk.
Computing superstore PC World said it will no longer sell the storage devices, affectionately known as floppies, once existing stock runs out.

New storage systems, coupled with a need to store more than the 1.44 megabytes of data held by a standard floppy, have led to its demise.

Only a tiny percentage of PCs currently sold still have floppy disk drives.

"The floppy disk looks increasingly quaint and simply isn't able to compete," said Bryan Magrath, commercial director of PC World.

Iconic status

It is not the first time the death-knell for the floppy has been sounded. The first nail in the coffin came in 1998, when the iMac was revealed without a floppy disk drive.

Then in 2003, Dell banished disk drives from its higher spec machines.

FLOPPY FACTS
The original floppy disk held 100KB of data
The standard disk held 1.44 megabytes of data - equivalent to a three-minute song
In South Africa, floppy disks are commonly known as stiffies
Best-selling 12 inch Blue Monday was sold in a sleeve designed to look like a floppy disk

In 1998, an estimated 2 billion floppy disks were sold, according to the Recording Media Industries Association of Japan.

Since then global demand has fallen by around two-thirds to an estimated 700 million by 2006.

Only 2% of PCs and laptops currently sold by PC World still have built-in floppy disk drives and by the summer it will phase even these out.

It is with mixed feelings that the computer store has decided call time on the floppy.

"The sound of a computer's floppy disk drive will be as closely associated with 20th Century computing as the sound of a computer dialling into the internet," said Mr Magrath.

But with computer users increasingly using the internet or USB memory sticks - some of which store 2,000 times the capacity of the floppy disk - to transfer data, it is becoming redundant.

It is a far cry from its halcyon days in the 1980s and 1990s, when floppies provided essential back-up as well as playing a crucial role in transferring data and distributing software.

Shrinking disk

The first floppy disk was introduced in 1971 by IBM and heralded as a revolutionary device.

There will be shops where they can get the data transferred but it they still have the original data they would be advised to invest in a portable hard drive or put it online

Bryan Glick, editor of Computing.co.uk

The brainchild of a group of Californian engineers led by Alan Shugart, it replaced old-fashioned punch-cards.

An eight-inch plastic disk coated with magnetic iron oxide, the nickname "floppy" came from its flexibility.

In 1976 the disk shrank to five-and-a-quarter inches - developed again by Alan Shugart, this time for Wang Laboratories.

By 1981, Sony shrank it some more - this time to three-and-a-half inches - the standard used to this day.

By the early 1990s, the growing complexity of software meant that many programs were distributed on sets of floppies. But the end of the decade saw software distribution swap to CD-ROM.

Vista icon

Alternative backup formats, new storage such as the CD-RW and the arrival of mass internet access, consigned the floppy disk to the dusty corner of peoples' desks and, eventually, the bin.

For those in the industry, there is little to mourn in the loss of floppy disks.

"You can get so much more information on other forms of storage. Technology moves on," said Bryan Glick, editor of Computing.co.uk.

But, he said, its demise, could prove problematic for those who have stored precious data on disk.

"There will be shops where they can get the data transferred but it they still have the original data they would be advised to invest in a portable hard drive or put it online," he said.

Interestingly, software giant Microsoft seems to be keeping the flame alight for the floppy.

Its newly-released operating system Vista still pays homage to it by continuing to use a floppy disk as the icon for saving a document in Microsoft Word 2007.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6314251.stm

My machine has a floppy drive. I built it myself (my first system) and thought I might need one. Turns out I have never used it and would not know what for.

Jeffbx · 01-30-2007, 12:56 PM

Heh heh

heheheheheheh

He said stiffie

Quote:

In South Africa, floppy disks are commonly known as stiffies

Airencracken · 01-30-2007, 01:15 PM

I want to put a 5 1/4" drive in my rig to look retro.

stufine · 01-30-2007, 03:50 PM

sell ya one for a good stiffie price. is it time for me to throw away my 5 1/4 floppies? man i feel old

Thesifer · 01-30-2007, 04:18 PM

I still have had times where I just needed a floppy disk. Also at work we are still required to route some paperwork up with Floppies in the folders with it.

DarkFury · 01-30-2007, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thesifer

I still have had times where I just needed a floppy disk. Also at work we are still required to route some paperwork up with Floppies in the folders with it.

And there is NO WAY I'm gonna toss my Ghost 2003 "Boot up" floppy disks... which allow for disk backups from DOS.

redcolours · 01-30-2007, 08:23 PM

Devhux · 01-30-2007, 08:26 PM

What about the millions of motherboards that ship with a floppy disk for SATA drivers under XP?

(To be honest though, I've just slipstreamed the drivers into an XP backup disc I've created -- as I haven't had a floppy drive in my system for over 5 years now).

DarkFury · 01-30-2007, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redcolours

Dos?

yup... for those times when you want a complete copy of something without Windows running to mess it up.

stufine · 01-30-2007, 09:34 PM

so much for edlin
debug -c800

Jeffbx · 01-31-2007, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stufine

so much for edlin
debug -c800

Hahahahah holy crap is that a blast from the past.
I actually used to use edlin on a daily basis. I was so pumped when they started shipping edit.com with, what, DOS 5?

I also had a folder full of 5-1/4 floppy disks that I carried around for software installs.

Man, am I old.

ShawnLee · 01-31-2007, 05:58 AM

What about the great Sierra Online RPG's?

Insert disk 4/14.

Markel · 01-31-2007, 11:56 AM

I remember having to toggle in the RIM (Read In Mode) loader from front panel switches so that you could read a punched tape of the BIN loader into the top memory page. That top page was sacred - you never wanted to overwrite it. Ahh, the days of the PDP-8.

Daedalus · 01-31-2007, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markel

I remember having to toggle in the RIM (Read In Mode) loader from front panel switches so that you could read a punched tape of the BIN loader into the top memory page. That top page was sacred - you never wanted to overwrite it. Ahh, the days of the PDP-8.

I think we have a winner.

zippyjuan · 01-31-2007, 01:19 PM

I am going to sound old, but we had a computer in high school that used punch cards. Get one out of order and your progam will not work. Another one puched holes in a tape about an inch wide. If it tore, you were screwed. In college, we had the 5 1/2 inch floppies. And there was this video game called "Pong" that people were playing. One called "Asteroids" too. They didn' have that shiny metal ball that the pinball games did but they had this cool beep sound.

stufine · 01-31-2007, 01:39 PM

so tru but what about the days hand typing basic into the trs80 at radio shack.. the guys there were so great by letting me and a buddy hang out there at a young age..no wonder i bought my first pc the tandy 1000 when i got a job. when my buddy bought a tandy hmm what was the number? it had dos on a chip and was basicly instant boot into dos. I always thought they would play on that and add windows to instant boot.

Since they are doing away with floppies and it seems to go in order tape-5 1/4-3 1/2 what will be the next to go? cd?

Napoleon54 · 01-31-2007, 09:28 PM

No punch card stories here (you old farts, sheesh!). But I do have an 8" floppy a friend gave me. I'm not old enough to have used them myself, but I'll hold on to that to tell my grandkids about. 800kb, baby!!! (right?)

First computer memory I have was in elementary school with apple IIes. We all learned how to code a stupid little program that is very much like the Mystify screensaver in WinXP. It just showed a bunch of different colored lines bouncing off of the margins of the screen. I remember having to boot the computer with one 5 1/2" floppy, then loading my program with another 5 1/2" floppy. That was wicked cool.

01-30-2007, 01:15 PM	#3
Airencracken Admiral Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: California Posts: 6,681	I want to put a 5 1/4" drive in my rig to look retro. __________________ "I remember my first orgasm, I just wish someone was there to share it with me..."11-05-2003 05:33 AM - Topane They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the masses. - Karl Marx Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre

01-30-2007, 04:18 PM	#5
Thesifer Vice Admiral Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,338	I still have had times where I just needed a floppy disk. Also at work we are still required to route some paperwork up with Floppies in the folders with it. __________________

01-30-2007, 08:23 PM	#7
redcolours in living colour Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: above a raging c Posts: 1,739	Dos? __________________ there are pictures, but no,nothing happens on my site.

01-30-2007, 08:26 PM	#8
Devhux Rear Admiral Lower Half Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Calgary Alberta Canada Posts: 2,511	What about the millions of motherboards that ship with a floppy disk for SATA drivers under XP? (To be honest though, I've just slipstreamed the drivers into an XP backup disc I've created -- as I haven't had a floppy drive in my system for over 5 years now). __________________ 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3

01-31-2007, 11:56 AM	#13
Markel Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11,733	I remember having to toggle in the RIM (Read In Mode) loader from front panel switches so that you could read a punched tape of the BIN loader into the top memory page. That top page was sacred - you never wanted to overwrite it. Ahh, the days of the PDP-8. __________________ stay low... keep moving...

01-30-2007, 03:50 PM	#4
stufine Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 143	sell ya one for a good stiffie price. is it time for me to throw away my 5 1/4 floppies? man i feel old

01-30-2007, 09:34 PM	#10
stufine Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 143	so much for edlin debug -c800

01-31-2007, 01:19 PM	#15
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	I am going to sound old, but we had a computer in high school that used punch cards. Get one out of order and your progam will not work. Another one puched holes in a tape about an inch wide. If it tore, you were screwed. In college, we had the 5 1/2 inch floppies. And there was this video game called "Pong" that people were playing. One called "Asteroids" too. They didn' have that shiny metal ball that the pinball games did but they had this cool beep sound.

01-31-2007, 01:39 PM	#16
stufine Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 143	so tru but what about the days hand typing basic into the trs80 at radio shack.. the guys there were so great by letting me and a buddy hang out there at a young age..no wonder i bought my first pc the tandy 1000 when i got a job. when my buddy bought a tandy hmm what was the number? it had dos on a chip and was basicly instant boot into dos. I always thought they would play on that and add windows to instant boot. Since they are doing away with floppies and it seems to go in order tape-5 1/4-3 1/2 what will be the next to go? cd?

01-31-2007, 09:28 PM	#17
Napoleon54 Vice Admiral Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: floating inside of a giant egg made of stars Posts: 4,861	No punch card stories here (you old farts, sheesh!). But I do have an 8" floppy a friend gave me. I'm not old enough to have used them myself, but I'll hold on to that to tell my grandkids about. 800kb, baby!!! (right?) First computer memory I have was in elementary school with apple IIes. We all learned how to code a stupid little program that is very much like the Mystify screensaver in WinXP. It just showed a bunch of different colored lines bouncing off of the margins of the screen. I remember having to boot the computer with one 5 1/2" floppy, then loading my program with another 5 1/2" floppy. That was wicked cool. __________________ There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. - Friedrich Hayek

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