[SIGCIS-Members] Current use of floppy disks

[MikeWillegal]

A few years ago I was approached by what I remember as a small foundry in Colorado that was using an Apple II in a critical process control application.  Their Apple II was acting up and they were looking for someone to service it.  Since hard drives were relatively rarely used on Apple II series, I presume it was floppy based.  Later, a second company approached me with similar issues, but I think this was some kind of business/accounting application.  

I told both of these businesses to buy a replacement Apple IIe on eBay as at that time they could be had for under $100 and even if they had to buy three of them to find a working one, they would be better off than hiring a consultant to repair the current system.

I presume that there are quite a number of older small businesses that don’t have the time or money to migrate to more modern systems.  

-Mike Willegal


> On Nov 5, 2021, at 6:57 AM, Schmitt, Martin <martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de> wrote:
> 
> Dear SIGCIS,
> 
> today, I got a request by a German journalist asking about current uses of floppy disks. Are they still is use somewhere? Are there still users, for example power plants, airlines, banks or so who are using floppy disks? If so, why do they do that? I am sure that you can address this question, that was forwarded to me by Daniela Zetti, way better than I could. My first thought were computer hobbyists who are working with old computers and presenting them at Vintage Computing Festivals – cool stuff, but I do not think that is what the journalist wants to hear.
> 
> Best 
> Martin
> 
> Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Post-Doc | digital enthusiast
> 
> Technische Universität Darmstadt
> Institut für Geschichte
> Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte
> 
> Mail: martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de <mailto:martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de>
> Tel: +49  6151-16-57327
> http://www.computerisierung.com <http://www.computerisierung.com/>
> 
> &
> 
> Assoziierter Wissenschaftler
> LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM 
> 
> Vice Chair IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing"
> 
> Zuletzt erschienen: Leslie, Christopher und Martin Schmitt (eds.): Histories of Computing in Eastern Europe, Cham: Springer International Publishing 2019 (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology 549), https://www.springer.com/978-3-030-29159-4
> 
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