Concept in Definition ABC

Today we are very used to using pendrives (units of storage using flash technology) of several “Gigabytes”, but such technology is relatively recent, and there was a time in which data storage was limited to well under half a Megabyte (yes, you read that right). And the best thing is that, then, it seemed more than enough.

The technology used was not the same as it is now, and was based, as in the case of hard drives, on magnetic recording by polarization of a disc-shaped surface (such as vinyl but made of a different material, flexible and protected by a sheath).

The first discs were eight inches and with a capacity of just under 80 KB, released in 1971

and read-only, a Format which evolved over time and of which, in 1977, its latest variant was launched, capable of storing a total of 1.2 MB of data.

However, this disk size would hardly leave data centers and companies, since it came and was replaced before the popularization of PCs at the domestic level. And the disk size that replaced it was that of

five and a quarter inches (5¼ ”), initially with a capacity of 110 KB, but which reached the mass public with 360 KB,

and that with time it reached a capacity of 1.2 MB in 1984 (it was born in 1976), not counting the 5¼ perpendicular disk of 1986 with a capacity for 100 MB, which saw little commercial application.

Then, and with the emergence of PCs, most of the machines launched on the market mounted a "floppy drive", a slot in which the disk was inserted, called flexible since both the The material from which the disc itself was made, such as the plastic cover, could be completely folded (like a paper), which was also not advisable for the health of the disc and the readability of the discs. data.

As personal experience, I must say that I got to "iron" for several days under volumes of one encyclopedia a pair of discs bent by a friend and that, at the end of the process, I was able to save part of the data stored in one of them.

The following format in our evolution gradual floppy disks were

the three and a half inches, launched in 1982 with a capacity of 264 KB, but which commercially reached the majority of consumers with a capacity of 720 KB, although the 1987 evolution of HD (high density) with a capacity of 1.44 MB was the one that really became more popular

and clearly synonymous with the word floppy.

For a long time, throughout the 1980s, there was a dichotomy between 5¼ and 3½ discs, with some rivalry even between users with one of the systems (something like the rivalries between owners of a system of video consoles or other).

At first, many magazines from computing that were sold in kiosks included programs recorded on a 5¼ disc, although you could request, via mail and paying, that they send you the 3½ version. Over the years, the situation was reversed, and there was a time when the ability to order 5¼ discs disappeared.

Meanwhile, many computer systems (such as a computer that I owned) included two floppy drives, one of each type, so it was easy to exchange content with everyone.

Although some high-capacity disks based on the same magnetic technology as the floppy disk were launched on the market, they no longer had the expected success

obfuscated by a much more powerful technology, optics, which reached the market in the form of the CD ROM.

The diskette had passed its time and, progressively, was withdrawn from the market, until in 2000 it was discontinued.

However, like video tapes, I know that floppy disks were still being made recently; many critical infrastructures, including nuclear power plants, are powered by computers from the 1980s, which mount floppy drives, and it is not so easy to replace them, so it is often preferred keep them.

The same happens in the banking industry, in which many programs and systems are maintained old computer systems, requiring floppy disks as well as spare parts and highly specialized.

Long live the floppy, then, even after its official death.

Photos: Fotolia - Jemastock / Jat306

Floppy Themes