Anyone still using floppies?

[Sam4Quality]

Lolz, this is antique stuff we have here!

My home does have a few black floppies lying around the house, but they are for foot stepping only.

Once, I picked one up and dismantled it to show to my nephews its parts - the thin circular film, a similar sized tissue to protect it, the metallic circular plate bonded to the concentric empty circle of the film, the very small lever that provides spring and enables reading by the PC when the floppy is inserted, and the rest of the outer body! I also tell them the history of floppies, the large thinner sizes ones, and these too! They enjoy it so much!

No matter where technology takes us, these little old antiques will remain part of the many souvenirs I give new little ones! Foot stepping function? Nah, not a good option!

Ciao.

 

[achorste]

We too use floppies at work - only now for the programs for our wax injection machines - shoe leather networking again!

Although at home I always keep a spare around - purely for RAID drivers when re-installing XP - everything else I need to carry with me either goes on flash drive or I upload to the net.

 

[JaneB]

No.

(But don't you just love that they're still called floppies even though it's been quite a long time since they actually were floppy.)

 

[Sam4Quality]

While the term sounds nice, I wonder why they were ever called 'floppy'! Any historical pointers on this?

Ciao.

 

[harry]

A video on Floppy Disk Bag (recycle, reuse)

 

[achorste]

While the term sounds nice, I wonder why they were ever called 'floppy'! Any historical pointers on this?

Ciao.

The original "floppy disks" - the 8" and 5 1/4" disks were indeed floppy - the magnetic disks were housed in flexible plastic sleeves. The name stuck even when the format evolved to the 3 1/2" size with the hard plastic case.

 

[Howard Lee]

I still have an old Commodore that I play with that uses a tape recorder.

I might be guilty of highjacking here but I will tell this story. Two years ago, I went to a bank to cash a check (I've started with an anchronism ). As I endorsed the check I pointed out to the teller, "Checks are not written on punchcards anymore and the still have, "Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate" on them. The teller looked at me with a dull, blank stare and asked, "What's a punchcard?"

I explained, "All government checks used to be printed on punch cards." and she replied, "That still doesn't tell me what a punchcard is."

I was bailed out when an older teller (?!?!?) at the next counter said that she would explain to her what a punchcard was when they were on break.

When did I become old?

 

[Stijloor]

I still have an old Commodore that I play with that uses a tape recorder.

I might be guilty of highjacking here but I will tell this story. Two years ago, I went to a bank to cash a check (I've started with an anchronism ). As I endorsed the check I pointed out to the teller, "Checks are not written on punchcards anymore and the still have, "Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate" on them. The teller looked at me with a dull, blank stare and asked, "What's a punchcard?"

I explained, "All government checks used to be printed on punch cards." and she replied, "That still doesn't tell me what a punchcard is."

I was bailed out when an older teller (?!?!?) at the next counter said that she would explain to her what a punchcard was when they were on break.

When did I become old?

Punch card...

Stijloor.

 

[Bill Pflanz]

I may sound ancient but does anyone have any keypunch cards laying around? I would like to have one to show my students and other youngsters when we start talking computers. I threw out most of the floppies but kept a few. I think I kept one of the 5 inch floppies so even that dates me.

Bill Pflanz

 

[Stijloor]

I may sound ancient but does anyone have any keypunch cards laying around? I would like to have one to show my students and other youngsters when we start talking computers. I threw out most of the floppies but kept a few. I think I kept one of the 5 inch floppies so even that dates me.

Bill Pflanz

Bill,

You may send IBM an email and request some of these cards.

Just an idea...

Stijloor.