Death
of the floppy?
Computer superstore PC World have announced they
are to stop selling floppy disks once their current
stock has been exhausted.
The number of diskettes sold globally each year
has fallen from highs of 2 billion in 1998 to around
700 million in 2006, according to the Recording
Media Industries Association of Japan. Due to the
availability of broadband and wireless Internet
access, and cheap high capacity storage alternatives
like CD-R or the more recent USB memory sticks,
PC World believe the floppy disk has become "obsolete".
The computer industry has been turning its back
on the humble floppy for a number of years now.
Apple introduced the floppy-driveless iMac in 1998,
and then the PC brigade gave the floppy another
kicking when Dell dropped diskette drives from its
high-end PCs in 2003. These days finding a new computer
with a floppy drive is almost impossible.
In terms of duplication, we have seen the inevitable
switch from clients shipping data on floppy disk
and computer tape to the universal formats of CD
and DVD. However, while the end-user may no longer
have a need for the floppy disk, many systems and
machines still use them and therefore we continue
to offer a floppy
disk duplication service and disk
duplication equipment.
To those who still use floppy disks, the PC World
announcement may sound alarming, but diskettes are
still being manufactured (albeit in smaller numbers)
and we'll continue to copy floppies for as long
as our customers need the service.
Is the floppy dead?..... not yet!
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