Floppy Disk 3 1/2"

At work just now, I was asked to make a 3 1/2" floppy disk via email. The file was attached. The file is 1.206MB in size. I dug into my memory to think up the capacity of a floppy disk. I recalled that it was a whopping 1.44MB. But without checking my box, I was about to reply to the email that I didn't have a floppy drive and I was going to ask another person in the office to do it. But then I thought, "Why don't I just check, for shits and giggles" and lo and behold, a floppy drive! Complete with that little hard push button to eject the disk. I giggled to myself. I felt like I was working on a relic from the old times [which it isn't at 3.20GHz and 512MB RAM].

But where in the hell would I find a 3 1/2" floppy disk? I know I didn't have any stached away in my desk. Just paper clips, binder clips, pads of paper, staples, rubber bands, pens and some sticky notes. I went to the supply closet in the hall and dug around. And at the back of the top shelf what do I find? An entire box of new 3 1/2" floppy disks. Oh man. IMB High Density Pre-Formatted 3 1/2" black floppy disks with that metal cover thingie to protect the read/write plastic underneath.

I walked it back to my desk and on the way, remarked to a co-worker how I could not remember the last time I used "one of these" and now that I think about it, I'd say it was sometime around 2000, so a solid five years.

I inserted the disk and it made that mmzzrt-mzzzrt sound. It brought me back to my first experiences with computers in the old Apple IIGS LogoWriter and PC Windows 3.1 days of yore and the even older 5 1/4" floppy disk with that crazy donut hole that everyone would use to twirl around the disks with and I remember Mr. Cricci [sp?] yelling at us for doing so in grade school. Yes, I went to a school that had a part time computer teacher and computer room in the late 80s - early 90s. Remember that crazy write-protect notch and how you'd cover it up? Sorta like old cassette tapes with the tabs that you could knock out if you didn't want to write over them later, but you totally could, if you just put some dark tape over it, same with VHS. I opened up an Explorer window for the A:\ drive. It buzzed to life reading the blank disk. I dragged the 1.206MB file to the open window and I wondered how much of the 1.44MB disk was blank for actual file space. A prompt opened up and it said that it would take thirty-five seconds to write the gargantuan file. And then it was all over.

A little walk down memory lane. I used to love LogoWriter and making that little turtle spin around and make geometric shapes

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Comments

[Pax Romano]

Funny thing is, where I work, we have to attach floppy discs to most files for transfer because the files contain so much confidential info that we are not allowed to make hard copies of or even email the confidential documents; it is such a pain in the arse. I sometimes think that The State of New Jersey's Office of Human Services is the only place that still uses those blasted discs.

So, I feel your pain