40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks

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Last week Dan relayed the announcement by Sony that they were killing off floppy disk production in his article So Long 3.5? Floppy… We Hardly Remember You Anyhow…, and we all had a good chuckle.

But for some folks, using a floppy is part of their daily reality. The BBC brings us a light look at folks still using floppy disks. But while many focus on silly things such as:

15. I buy about 100,000 floppies per year as I have a business that makes them into drinks mats, fridge magnets and toast racks.
Ken Pork, London

The reality is there are still loads of real-world uses out there for floppy disks – including many that will be impacted as the storage media are eliminated. Here are a few:

3. In the aviation industry they are still used to update firmware on ticket printers.
Dre, Germany

9. Believe it or not, most if not all ATM (cashpoint) programming is installed direct to the machine from a floppy disk. With all of the ATMs available in just the UK with many additional copies made to support each machine in a region… this could amount to a huge stockpile of disks hanging around for each bank and/or private ATM manufacturer.
Steve, Northampton

16. In the automotive industry in the US many plastic parts are made in machines that are 20-30 years old. I go through floppies fairly regularly because we’ll need to access a robot or punch press or milling machine or something else that has no other form of external media access.
Kyle, Georgia

25. An unusual use is sewing machines – there are top-end models that accept embroidery designs stored either on a special cartridge on floppy disk.
James, Hampshire

39. In the film industry, many telecine machines (for scanning film to tape) output meta-data onto a floppy disk. These machines are very expensive so they’re not something that’s upgraded on a frequent basis.
Jon, Los Angeles, CA, USA

As well as the governments in Malaysia (19), Panama (24), Romania (27), United Kingdom (30, 31, 33, 34), Peru (32), and Mexico (38).

Personally my last regular floppy disk usage dried up two years ago when I switched jobs … but before that I had to have a stack of floppy disks because much of the metrology equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing – including a $1.5MM tool I worked in a joint project to develop – had floppy-based storage systems for parameter transfer. Since more and more were going to full network automation, adding complex USB systems didn’t make sense.

So … do you have any actual real-world uses of floppy disks?

Source: BBC News via Consumerist

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

6 Comments on "40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks"

  1. 40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks | Gear Diary: As well as the governments in Malaysia (19), Panama (24), Roma… http://bit.ly/cHm07q

  2. #Network #Automation 40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks | Gear Diary: Since more and more were going to full ne… http://bit.ly/cSLzJa

  3. #Network #Automation 40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks | Gear Diary: Since more and more were going to full ne… http://bit.ly/cSLzJa

  4. I don’t think I’ve used a floppy in something like 15 years.

  5. Travel Panama | May 3, 2010 at 8:36 pm |

    40 Ways People Still Use Floppy Disks | Gear Diary: As well as the governments in Malaysia (19), Panama (24), Roma… http://bit.ly/cHm07q

  6. AndySocial | May 4, 2010 at 7:45 am |

    In the military, there is a blanket prohibition against most usage of USB-connected flash media. The only way to move files in most instances is through old media (floppies and CD-R). Since CD-RW is notoriously unreliable and many systems are broken as to re-recording them, you either use a 700 meg disc for a 10k file, or you bust out the floppy drive.

    Naturally, the military is not routinely BUYING floppy drives, but they remain resolute in their general opposition to USB media. Do you see a problem here? 🙂

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