The Slow Painful Death of the Floppy

thecreeper · 05-13-2005, 04:30 PM

Ah, the floppy disk, bastion of my existence. The worthless, overpriced, easily forgotten piece of plastic that many professors still insist on receiving with projects. Why is it that in the year 2005 this unreliable storage device has not been completely replaced?

I will say that the advent of cheap flash memory (in the form of Jump Drives) has made a sizable impact on use of the floppy disks. Whereas 10 years ago up until the last year or so, the floppy had been so important in a school and work setting, it is slowly being killed by compact discs and flash memory. I just wonder why this wasn't replaced earlier. The current floppy as we know it today holds 1.44MB and is 3.5 inches, and it was introduced nearly 20 years ago. Though the floppy has been around for ages in varying sizes and capacities, it is now being offered as optional equipment on most new computers, in addition to their capactity being rather worthless.

The capacity was bad enough, but it's matched by their unreliability. Floppies more than any other storage medium are known to go bad or lose information the easiest. Obviously, every medium has their disadvantages, but most have at least decent reliability. However, the floppy's exposure to dust, moisture, or heat can corrupt or destroy data in a file. And yet, this has been the primary source of sharing information in a school/work environment for me for the past 10-12 years. The price has often come back to be the dominating factor as to why these were chosen and are still used, but honestly, a CD or small USB flash drive is more reliable and much larger in capacity.

Hopefully in the next few years these ancient storage devices will be a thing of the past and projects will not be docked points or cause embarassing presentation problems because "floppy would not read." Go get a jump drive or turn in CD's with projects instead, it is safer and more professional anyway.

raublekick · 05-13-2005, 04:51 PM

Floppys are good for boot-disks, but now you can just use a CD for that, and USB flash drives are able to boot on some more modern motherboards.

thecreeper · 05-13-2005, 04:53 PM

I just really want them to die. After spending 2.5 hours trying to make a linux bootdisk on two different computers at school only to find one floppy drive corrupted and the other was able to complete the boot but unable to actually run it, I had about enough of them.

johnny · 05-14-2005, 09:12 AM

i think calling floppy disks unreliable is a bit of an exaggeration. they work just fine.

Metallistar · 05-14-2005, 09:45 AM

The last 4 or 5 computers I've built didnt have floppies in them by request. Like creep said flash memory is the future. I just use cases with front mount usb and firewire.

raublekick · 05-14-2005, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnny

i think calling floppy disks unreliable is a bit of an exaggeration. they work just fine.

i agree, i've never had a problem with them. whenever i need a floppy for a bootdisk i just grab the closest floppy that's been sitting on the floor or crammed away somewhere collecting dust.

thecreeper · 05-14-2005, 12:53 PM

i dunno, i've had problems with them a lot. i mean, 85% of the time, they are fine for me, but that's 15% has lost a lot of information for me. and many of the computers at college destroy floppies simply by trying to write to them. i'll be glad when they are gone.

raublekick · 05-14-2005, 01:08 PM

sounds like you just have shitty computers at school
::shrugs::

thecreeper · 05-14-2005, 01:55 PM

yeah, you could say that. pentium III's for the comp sci department and top of the line p4's for the english department? what the fuck.

GT2000 · 05-14-2005, 02:29 PM

Yeah, I still try to keep a floppy in my main machine, for bios flashing and stuff, plus ya never know when you'll want to boot into Dos for a little nostalgia...

Plain Old Jane · 05-14-2005, 08:17 PM

dos r00ls, i used to program my own batch menu systems

echo off
cls
echo Welcome to the "Jennifer Bear" Computer system
echo .. ..
echo .. ..
echo .. ..
echo Type "a" for windows 3.11
echo Type "b" to play simcity
echo Type "c" to enter Xtree Gold File Manager
echo Type "d" to play descent demo
echo Type "e" to see teh pr0n
pause

e.bat

echo off
cls
echo .... FUCKING PERV ....
echo .... GET OFF MY PC ....
call e.bat

heX · 05-15-2005, 06:18 AM

floppies are totally obsojeet

ob-so-jeet: out dated but still classic

testtubebaby · 05-15-2005, 12:14 PM

i have no floppy drive... but it begs the question: what the fuck should i slam in that floppy bay?!?

thecreeper · 05-15-2005, 12:23 PM

leave the gaping hole there so everyone will know the floppy drive's shame.

heX · 05-15-2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by testtubebaby

i have no floppy drive... but it begs the question: what the fuck should i slam in that floppy bay?!?

i use my two empty floppys slots for a small cup holder for my juice and stuff.

Plain Old Jane · 05-15-2005, 07:20 PM

www.thebroken.org

they'll teach you how to make your empty drive bay into a self destruct device.

3 oz Thermite (5 parts Aluminium, 8 parts Iron Tri-oxide (to make, heat up 1 cup rust in a cast iron skillet til it turns red.) 1 part magnesium for an extra kick) + Magnesium wire attached to an ignition source + laptop with bad stuff on it, instant safety@3000*F

05-13-2005, 04:30 PM	#1
thecreeper Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 2,330	The Slow Painful Death of the Floppy Ah, the floppy disk, bastion of my existence. The worthless, overpriced, easily forgotten piece of plastic that many professors still insist on receiving with projects. Why is it that in the year 2005 this unreliable storage device has not been completely replaced? I will say that the advent of cheap flash memory (in the form of Jump Drives) has made a sizable impact on use of the floppy disks. Whereas 10 years ago up until the last year or so, the floppy had been so important in a school and work setting, it is slowly being killed by compact discs and flash memory. I just wonder why this wasn't replaced earlier. The current floppy as we know it today holds 1.44MB and is 3.5 inches, and it was introduced nearly 20 years ago. Though the floppy has been around for ages in varying sizes and capacities, it is now being offered as optional equipment on most new computers, in addition to their capactity being rather worthless. The capacity was bad enough, but it's matched by their unreliability. Floppies more than any other storage medium are known to go bad or lose information the easiest. Obviously, every medium has their disadvantages, but most have at least decent reliability. However, the floppy's exposure to dust, moisture, or heat can corrupt or destroy data in a file. And yet, this has been the primary source of sharing information in a school/work environment for me for the past 10-12 years. The price has often come back to be the dominating factor as to why these were chosen and are still used, but honestly, a CD or small USB flash drive is more reliable and much larger in capacity. Hopefully in the next few years these ancient storage devices will be a thing of the past and projects will not be docked points or cause embarassing presentation problems because "floppy would not read." Go get a jump drive or turn in CD's with projects instead, it is safer and more professional anyway.

05-13-2005, 04:51 PM	#2
raublekick Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancastuh, PA Posts: 1,678	Floppys are good for boot-disks, but now you can just use a CD for that, and USB flash drives are able to boot on some more modern motherboards. __________________ http://www.good-evil.net slap that bitch, sell her coke

05-13-2005, 04:53 PM	#3
thecreeper Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 2,330	I just really want them to die. After spending 2.5 hours trying to make a linux bootdisk on two different computers at school only to find one floppy drive corrupted and the other was able to complete the boot but unable to actually run it, I had about enough of them. __________________ good-evil.net - ahh, wade boggs...goes down smooth.

05-14-2005, 09:45 AM	#5
Metallistar Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Wakeman, OH Posts: 320	The last 4 or 5 computers I've built didnt have floppies in them by request. Like creep said flash memory is the future. I just use cases with front mount usb and firewire. __________________ 1997 GTP & 1998 GTX http://www.metallistar.com

05-14-2005, 12:53 PM	#7
thecreeper Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 2,330	i dunno, i've had problems with them a lot. i mean, 85% of the time, they are fine for me, but that's 15% has lost a lot of information for me. and many of the computers at college destroy floppies simply by trying to write to them. i'll be glad when they are gone. __________________ good-evil.net - ahh, wade boggs...goes down smooth.

05-14-2005, 09:12 AM	#4
johnny Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Upper Canada Posts: 1,276	i think calling floppy disks unreliable is a bit of an exaggeration. they work just fine.

05-14-2005, 01:08 PM	#8
raublekick Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancastuh, PA Posts: 1,678	sounds like you just have shitty computers at school ::shrugs:: __________________ http://www.good-evil.net slap that bitch, sell her coke

05-14-2005, 01:55 PM	#9
thecreeper Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 2,330	yeah, you could say that. pentium III's for the comp sci department and top of the line p4's for the english department? what the fuck. __________________ good-evil.net - ahh, wade boggs...goes down smooth.

05-14-2005, 02:29 PM	#10
GT2000 Playing God @ Your Xpense Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Va Beach, Va Posts: 2,040	Yeah, I still try to keep a floppy in my main machine, for bios flashing and stuff, plus ya never know when you'll want to boot into Dos for a little nostalgia... __________________ Hop in, strap down, and hold on tight.

05-14-2005, 08:17 PM	#11
Plain Old Jane i hate vagina Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 841	dos r00ls, i used to program my own batch menu systems echo off cls echo Welcome to the "Jennifer Bear" Computer system echo .. .. echo .. .. echo .. .. echo Type "a" for windows 3.11 echo Type "b" to play simcity echo Type "c" to enter Xtree Gold File Manager echo Type "d" to play descent demo echo Type "e" to see teh pr0n pause e.bat echo off cls echo .... FUCKING PERV .... echo .... GET OFF MY PC .... call e.bat __________________ Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.

05-15-2005, 06:18 AM	#12
heX Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 937	floppies are totally obsojeet ob-so-jeet: out dated but still classic

05-15-2005, 12:14 PM	#13
testtubebaby Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 631	i have no floppy drive... but it begs the question: what the fuck should i slam in that floppy bay?!?

05-15-2005, 12:23 PM	#14
thecreeper Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 2,330	leave the gaping hole there so everyone will know the floppy drive's shame. __________________ good-evil.net - ahh, wade boggs...goes down smooth.

05-15-2005, 07:20 PM	#16
Plain Old Jane i hate vagina Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 841	www.thebroken.org they'll teach you how to make your empty drive bay into a self destruct device. 3 oz Thermite (5 parts Aluminium, 8 parts Iron Tri-oxide (to make, heat up 1 cup rust in a cast iron skillet til it turns red.) 1 part magnesium for an extra kick) + Magnesium wire attached to an ignition source + laptop with bad stuff on it, instant safety@3000F __________________ Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.*