History of Computers - The Floppy Disk
This page created by: Max Susman
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| The Floppy Disk |
Invented in 1967 by IBM's Allen Shugart, the floppy disk quickly became the world's most affordable, practical, and wide spread data storage medium. Floppy disks became available for commercial use in 1971[1].
Overview
What is a Floppy Disk?
A floppy disk is a flexible magnetic disk used to store data from computers. Floppy disks (aka diskettes or floppies) are portable, meaning they can be removed from a computer's disk drive. They are rewritable as well, information can be added or removed[2]. A floppy disk is read and rewritten by a floppy disk drive (FDD).[3] Floppy disks come in three different conventional sizes: 3.5 inch rigid, 5.25 inch flexible, and 8 inch flexible.
The floppy disk was created in 1967 by a small team of engineers under the leadership of David L. Noble in an attempt to develop a reliable and inexpensive system for loading instructions and installilng software updates into mainframe computers. The first floppy disks were 8-inch disks that were not covered, but they were very easily dirtied. As a result, the team packaged them in slim and durable envelopes equipped with a innovative dust-wiping element.
Significance
Floppy disk's are significant to the history of computing because they were the first way to easily transport data from one computer to another. Floppy disk's are slower and have less memory than hard disks, but they are portable and easy to store. Until the early 1990s, the floppy was the primary method for distributing software and was widely used for backup[4]. By the mid-1990s, due to its lack of enough storage space, the floppy disc quickly gave way to the Compact Disc.
Links
Floppy Disk; Floppy Disk and Drive; en.wikipedia.org
