A floppy disk is a disk storage medium
composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed
in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust
particles. They are read and written by a floppy disk drive (FDD).
Invented by IBM, floppy disks in
3.5-inch, 5.25-inch and 8-inch forms were a ubiquitous form of data
storage and exchange from the mid-1970s to the 2000s.
While floppy disk drives still have some
limited uses, especially with legacy industrial computer equipment, they
have been superseded by data storage methods with much greater
capacity, such as USB flash drives, portable external hard disk drives,
optical discs, memory cards, and computer networks.
The earliest floppy disks, invented in
the late 1960s, were 8 inches in diameter; they became commercially
available in 1971. These disks and associated drives were produced and
improved upon by IBM and other companies such as Memorex, Shugart
Associates, and Burroughs Corporation. The term “floppy disk” appeared
in print as early as 1970, and although in 1973 IBM announced its first
media as “Type 1 Diskette” the industry continued to use the terms
“floppy disk” or “floppy”.
Types of Floppy Disks
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5.25 Inch Floppy Disk are not commonly found anymore. They are used by older computers
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3.5 Inch Floppy Disk are the most commonly used disk. It is encased in a hard plastic square case that cannot be opened. Information is magnetically recorded onto this thin flexible round disk.
Floppy Capacity
Floppies can be found in two storage capacities. They are high density disks and double-density disks.
Double-Density Disks (720K capacity)
store the least amount of information. They are still used, but not as
common as the high density disks. It is referred to with the letters DD
on the label. With only one hole at the top of the disk, it can store
720K of information.
High-Density Disks (1.44K capacity) store
the most information. Having two holes at the top of the disk, it can
store 1.44 MB of information. It usually has the letters HD written on
it. This is the most commonly used floppy disk.
