Japan has Won the War Against Floppy Disks!

TECH NEWS – The Japanese government used this phrase, so they’ve probably had enough of the little magnetic disks too…

 

The Japanese government has completely banned floppy disks, which were last used regularly in the Windows 98 era. The 3.5″ floppy disk with 1.44 MB was the most common at that time, and before that the larger 5.25″ floppy disk was in our hands, for example in our Commodore 64 disk drive, which was much faster than the cartridge. Compared to floppy disks, CD-ROMs could hold much more data (650-700 MB), DVDs even more (4.5 GB), and Blu-ray with its minimum of 25 GB is a whole other universe…

However, Reuters reports that thanks to the efforts of Taro Kono, Japan’s digital minister, floppy disks are no longer needed at the government level. There, a somewhat anachronistic, out-of-date situation has arisen, with the BBC, for example, reporting that many workplaces favor faxes over email. Kono has tried to change this. In 2021, he declared a “war” on floppy disks, and by June 28 of this year, he was able to squeeze out the old technology, as all but one of the 1034 regulations governing the use of floppy disks were abolished.

The need for technological advancement was understandable, since the disks were no longer being produced, and thus the stock of disks that had been used in perfect condition would have been depleted over time, since this technology also erodes over time: the disks become unreadable (which could be seriously life-threatening in railway use!), or even the drives themselves break down. After all, HDDs or hard disks do not have an unlimited lifespan (nor do optical disks or SSDs…).

Today, not many people recognize floppy disks, but many of us in the team still remember the way the drive spun and scanned the disk. Those of us born in the 2000s may never have seen such a disk, and we understand, as time has passed.

Source: PCGamer, Reuters, BBC

Spread the love
Avatar photo
Anikó, our news editor and communication manager, is more interested in the business side of the gaming industry. She worked at banks, and she has a vast knowledge of business life. Still, she likes puzzle and story-oriented games, like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, which is her favourite title. She also played The Sims 3, but after accidentally killing a whole sim family, swore not to play it again. (For our office address, email and phone number check out our IMPRESSUM)

No comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

theGeek TV