Put a floppy disk in front of a millennial and they’re likely to ask why you bothered using a 3D printer to make a model of the Save icon. But despite mainstream computers not having floppy drives for most of the millennium, parts of the world are still trying to extricate themselves from the clutches of this now ancient technology.
For most of us, the floppy disk is a relic if a bygone age. I still have a stash of floppies in my cupboard, holding some classic games (Commander Keen, the original Duke Nukem platform game and Castle Wolfenstein among some sold favourites) and system disks for old operating systems. But, in some places, the floppy disk still reigns.
In Japan, bureaucrats are radiating against government edicts to remove floppy disks. But there’s also a battle to get rid fax machines and personal seals.
A few years ago, when I was the editor of Macworld Australia, I asked readers of my weekly newsletter to tell me about the oldest Mac they had running and doing useful work (not just in the cupboard). I was amazed that there were a few Mac IIc systems still running as well as many people clinging to Macs running System 9.
A recent article published at Apple Insider noted that there’s still a market for floppy disks with hobbyists and, amazingly, in the aviation and medical industries. Many are being serviced by Tom Persky, who runs floppydisk.com, who has ended up as one of the last people standing in the floppy drive business.
While I haven’t used a floppy drive (or a CD/DVD drive for that matter) for many years, I still have a USB floppy and USB DVD drive just in case. But I’m amazed that floppy disks which were limited, not just in capacity, but by reliability, are still relied upon in important functions. And there’s a lesson for all of us.
We need to ensure that valuable information is transitioned to new technologies so we’re not stuck with tools that are hard to support and leave us high and dry should they be rendered completely obsolete.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.