Do you still use floppy disks?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by lindbergh • Jun 6, 2014.

  1. lindbergh

    lindberghWell-Known Member

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    When I went to one computer and electronics shop, I saw some floppy disks being sold. I still remember using these extensively to save files when I was in high school and using them a bit in college. But then different storage devices and services cropped up which made these floppy disks obsolete. Or so I thought.

    Yesterday, I saw a stack of floppy disks being sold. Do people still use floppy disks? Is there still a use for these things?
     
  2. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I don't use them anymore, the last time I used one was when in I was in college. How much are they being sold nowadays? They used to be less than P50 before more than 10 years ago. Maybe they were just leftover stocks and the owner is just disposing them. Then once it's all sold, they won't get new stocks anymore, if ever companies still make them.
     
  3. lindbergh

    lindberghWell-Known Member

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    They're now sold for P15 each (35 cents). I dunno if they're left over stock though. It's being sold by CDR-King. Haha!

    If you'll check their website, they're still really selling them and not just leftovers.

    Also, I've heard that the Social Security System is still using floppy disks. Weird right?
     
  4. brandon0818x

    brandon0818xNew Member

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    I do not use them and have not used them since elementary school! I don't really see the point! Modern USB thumb drives can be very small and still hold a huge amount of space! I have a USB that barely sticks out and holds 32 GB! Plus, most modern computers don't have slots for floppy disks anyways!
     
  5. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Oh you know our government, most of the funds go to their own pockets and not really for the improvement of their facilities.. Well if you saw that on CD-R King, then I guess they are a part of their store inventory, you know they sell anything and everything computer related, even if it's not in demand anymore, lol. If you saw floppy disks on Octagon or Wellcom or even on National Bookstore, then I will find that a bit odd.
     
  6. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    No, I don't use floppy disks. Even my old computers don't have floppy drives. I remember the "true" floppy disks. They were 51/4 inches and they really did flop with you held one corner. Then people started calling the smaller disks, floppies.

    Floppy disks are hot items on eBay ( at least last year) so grab them if you see them at a garage sale.
     
  7. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    Considering that the fact that floppies were small space storage devices, I don't see the need to use them. If all you can save on one floppy disk is probably one mp3 that's under 2MB, having them isn't worth it.

    The last time I used a floppy was back in 2007 and even it's because the CD drive of the computer I was using was not working. I even doubt that new machines have a slot for floppies.
     
  8. wander_n_wonder

    wander_n_wonderActive Member

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    I don't use them anymore, mainly because my computer does not have a drive for it anymore. Also, they can only hold very few files so it's not practical to keep one. I would rather use a small SD card which can hold thousands of files instead of keeping boxes and boxes of floppy disks which can also get corrupted easily.

    All of the floppy disks I used back in high school are not even working anymore and I can't retrieve any of my previous files.
     
  9. Miaka_M

    Miaka_MActive Member

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    I don't use them anymore. But I actually enjoyed the feeling of looking through them all, I felt like an investigator when I was younger haha. I used them when I was in middle school. Laptops don't even come with a floppy insert built in, I don't know who would invest in these anymore. Unless of course, they think that it could be like a "piece of history" in the future and wrack in a lot of money later.
     
  10. sarz

    sarzActive Member

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    I can't remember the last time I saw a floppy disk let alone use one I too thought they were a thing of the past and had become obsolete. My guess is that they were trying to get rid of them but they are better of giving them away I doubt anyone really uses them anymore.
     
  11. JaydonTyler

    JaydonTylerActive Member

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    I actually do use them on my one computer. I like to keep certain data spread around so there is no way to lose it. If there is a fire, Im safe. If my house is destroyed, still have the files elsewhere. If that place is destroyed, have the files in multiple locations in my home. Its for good reason though.
     
  12. oldwriter

    oldwriterMember

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    These days it is safe to say that floppy disks are a dead format. Of course, as it can happen with any other format, as long as the hardware that runs it is still working viably somewhere, there will always be someone who keeps the format in use.

    The fact that there are still people with BETAMAX does not mean that the format remains alive. Not at all.

    Rest assured that floppies are truly gone in computing, as gone as Intel 80286 processors.
     
  13. Lostvalleyguy

    LostvalleyguyActive Member

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    I got rid of all my floppy disks about a year ago. I haven't had a floppy drive on may last two computers and the previous one I installed the drive from an even older computer. There are few computers these days with floppy drives and the amount of data storage is so small on these drives that emailing a file is more convenient. I even found an old 5.25" 360K drive and floppies in a box. All of these technologies can easily be replaced with a solid state flash drive and I don't believe there is any need to hang on to them. It wouldn't surprise me to see the CD/DVD drives and Hard Drives gone in five years being all replaced by solid state technology.
     
  14. whnuien

    whnuienActive Member

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    I haven't seen floppy disk for a long time nor have I seen it at computer shops in my town. I remember using them a lot for saving files and my work when I was still in college.

    I had been using an external hard drive since and it makes me happy because I can store more files, songs, pictures, and also movies inside.
     
  15. 003

    003Well-Known Member

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    No, who does? Nowadays, it's really very practical to use it. Not that it's not convenience, it would also be more expensive to use it and maintain it than to use usbs. And even if you save your files there, to whom can you share? I think only very few people still use it, and only very few people who still remember how to use it. Chances are if you are using it, then only you can have access to your files, so what's the worth of saving it to an external device if you won't be able to transmit it to someone else? Why not just save it in your hard drive?
     
  16. Fauxpat

    FauxpatMember

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    I don't think I've touched a floppy disk since my freshman year in high school. And that was over a decade ago! I really don't see the point of them these days. As our technology and bandwidth has improved, the sizes of files have gotten larger as well. Compare your average jpeg of fifteen years ago to a jpeg today. I'm sure you wouldn't even be able to fit a single image on a disk.
     
  17. Annabell

    AnnabellActive Member

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    I can't even remember the last time I saw a real floppy disk, never mind actually used one of them. My old computer still has the drive for them, but I didn't use it once. It was just there as a sort of 'What if I ever needed it?'
     
  18. Mayvin

    MayvinActive Member

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    Wow, wondering what store you were in that was actually selling floppy disks?? Most computers you see nowadays, actually ALL new computers you see right now have no floppy disk slot so I honestly don't know who would be using them. Like you mentioned, I remember using them when I was in college and for sure in high school but now only use flash disks.
     
  19. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I think I haven't used one or even seen one in nearly or over a decade. I find it surprising that it's still being sold in some stores, as I doubt it has any benefits that can't be found in any other similar and more modern device. I don't even really use CD's at all anymore, so I'm much more surprised that people would still be using floppy disks. I still think they are neat to look at though, and if I saw a set being sold at a local store, I might even pick one up just to have something nostalgic to look at, but otherwise, I don't really see much reason to use it over other more efficient storage devices.
     
  20. Broadleaf

    BroadleafMember

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    Floppy Disks are obsolete and they should probably stay that way. Today's technology has allowed for greater things than floppy disks, for god's sake we have 8 terabyte drives now! There is absolutely no reason to use floppy disks any more unless it is purely for nostalgic reasons, which I can fully understand. The only purpose floppy disks serve in this day and age is purely nostalgic and should be purely nostalgic.