[MACSPECTRUM]

Note the mention that Apple stopped using floppy drives a while ago.
http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20030206/wd ell/Technology/techBN/

 

[Kosh]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by macspectrum:
Note the mention that Apple stopped using hard drives a while ago.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you meant floppy drives... I still have hard drives in my Mac.

I wonder what those poor PC users are going to do without a floppy drive? How are they gonna transfer files between computers and pirate software?

 

[Strongblade]

Or worse... boot their computers?

Just imagine the letter-confusion!

No more A drives? What are they gonna do?

Will they rename the "C:" drive to the "A:" drive now, since that letter won't be used anymore...?

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

thread starting post edited as per Kosh's correction

 

[iGeeK]

Granted that I'm not a typical computer user, but WHO is using 1.4 Mb floppy drives anymore?

I stoped using floppies when I got my first SyQuest drive. Back when these cartridges were $100 a pop.

I must have spent at least $ 3000 on these damned things. That 's, like, a bummer!

Maybe I can build a wall out of them now, or something.

Cheers,

G/<

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Client of mine just ordered a machine for home use, Windows 98 2nd Ed., and yep, you guessed it, a 1.44 MB floppy drive is needed.

How else do you create an emergency diskette for Win 98?

There are some technical and corporate reason why this machine is running Win 98. A little pre-emptive note before the barrage of "wtf?"

 

[sniper]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Grzegorz Kryszczuk:
Granted that I'm not a typical computer user, but WHO is using 1.4 Mb floppy drives anymore?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

it's been so long i can't quite remember, but it's been at least 5 years since i used one.

 

[jfpoole]

Grzegorz Kryszczuk wrote:
Granted that I'm not a typical computer user, but WHO is using 1.4 Mb floppy drives anymore?

The only time I've used a floppy disk recently is to get an older P200 working again (you can't boot from the CDROM drive, it seems). I think my Mom might use floppies to transfer data back and forth from work, but I'm not sure.

 

[monokitty]

My Beige G3 has a 1.44 MB floppy drive in it, but, you guessed, I haven't touched it yet. The built-in 100-ZIP drive backs 100 times more than a disk and suts me just fine.

 

[moonsocket]

i used to use a floppy drive for win98. the i discovered i could make a bootable win98 install cd.....never used a floppy since. and when i had XP the cd was bootable. the PC market still relies on floppys way too much

 

[iGeeK]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lars:
My Beige G3 has a 1.44 MB floppy drive in it, but, you guessed, I haven't touched it yet. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Funnily enough the 1.44 floppy drive was the first thing to fail in my G3 (the original 233 desktop).
After that the Cd-ROM drive went out, with much noise.

I have been using an external CD-ROM drive on the G3, and never bothered about the floppy.

These things are dust bunny magnets, too!

I used to complain when I had to take PC's apart, because they would be filthy inside (I have a few stories about dust!). mac's are generally cleaner, except for the floppy innards. Once they added the floppy drive gate, that helped. Somewhat.

Speaking about floppies, the drive for one of my first computers (a Sol) weighed about 60 lbs.
and had cute glass parts inside. It was about 1.5 times the size of my G4. 8 inch floppies.

Those were the days!

Cheers,

G/<

 

[PosterBoy]

Re: Floppy Drives on Windows PCs

There are still some applications for them, we use them at work to transfer PDFs and excel spreadsheets from our email terminal (on the corporate network) to our tech machine (on the local network)

Also, I find that the MaxBlast! software that comes with larger Maxtor Hard Drives works better if you use the version that came on a Floppy (2 actually) than the newer version that comes on a CD. Plus, some older machines wont boot off of a CD.

Although, for the most part we use a Boot CD that one of our techs made (it's really cool, one of those half sized CDs with DOS and a number of disk utilities and such on it, which would normally only fit on a floppy each but instead they all fit on one CD!**)

--PB

** please excuse that moment of total geekdom.

 

[minnes]

I used floppies all the time last fal at school
Its too cumbersome to back up to a webmail account all the time and burning cds for a 1mb or less file is silly
floppies are still used extensively in education
they are also full of viri and get stuck in pcs all the time

 

[robert]

Last month I did some graphics work for a client. This involved going into their work and working with their pc's and printers. I had to use floppies from my laptop to load pdf's onto their network.
It is great to have all to modules and ability to save/format disks for the windoze world all in one small package.
I find the new laptops restrictive in this area. I say bring back the modules!
Robert

 

[Rock Lobster]

I use floppies all the time!
Yeah, they're great for when you sit your coffee down on your desk... they prevent those coffee rings from damaging your furniture. I ordered a pack of 10 for my living room!

 

[MacNutt]

I have a whole bunch of old AOL floppies to use as drink coasters. They're good for that.

Since I switched from an oil company-supplied PC laptop to a self-owned Apple Powerbook (Pismo) I have not even thought about floppy disks. (I have NOT missed them at all)

To me....it is a dead format. Much like VHS-C or Beta, or 3/4 inch VHS or even Digital8. I work with digital video all of the time...and all of the above..including floppy disks...are just a part of the long forgotten past.

But I guess that the PC guys are just getting around to this realisation. Doesn't surprise me, somehow.

 

[CubaMark]

One of the things that always drove me nuts about working on a Windoze machine... every time I quit MS-Word, or clicked an icon, or dared to move the mouse, the damn (empty) floppy drive would spin.

Funny how little things can get REAL ANNOYING if you're exposed to them frequently...

M.

 

[Heart]

My father-in-law, who does not own any computer, always asked me what the AOL CD was. He would get them in the mail and save them for me, he knew they had something to do with a computer.

I told him about the coaster idea and now he has them scattered thoughout the house.

When the grandkids come over they figure grandpa now has a computer, since he has so many CD's.

The old world and new world colide. Everyone can use technology in there own way.

P.S. Dell drops floppies, and now it is news.
This should prove to be a little advertising for Apple, as everytime they mention it people will say, Apple has done that for years......

Another downfall for Dell is that all the Educational institutions are gonna screem for the floppy back as they STILL use them alot.

 

[jfpoole]

Heart wrote:
Another downfall for Dell is that all the Educational institutions are gonna screem for the floppy back as they STILL use them alot.

Dell's still offering the floppy drives as an option, so if you need a floppy drive, you can still buy a floppy drive.

 

[Chealion]

I still use floppies in part because the files I use are usually small Word documents, and a floppy works well for that purpose. I would use email or something like the now defunct iDrive, but well they are harder to use (especially with the paranoid restrictions emplaced in part to the local board of education and their PCs that are underclocked and using Win 95 on a machine designed for WinXP) and iDrive now costs money, if its still around.
Moving away from floppies is good, because 1.44 MB just doesn't cut it anymore unless you are only using it for textual reports or simple text files or REALLY small graphics. The USB Drives, however seem to have a great deal of potential, like a portable (and faster) extra big floppy