[SIGCIS-Members] Current use of floppy disks

[Pierre Mounier-Kuhn]

Among other "transition" devices, the HxC Floppy Emulators "are used in very differents environnements and situations since years now. The HxC Floppy Emulator replaces the floppy disk drive of lots of industrial machines, keyboards/samplers and old computers". 
[ https://hxc2001.com/showroom/?fbclid=IwAR2FQVLIhn8-_QIQ3RHk5SfxyJveiOE_oU6EiQGkKnOnzt5VH7wGUKSbDOo | https://hxc2001.com/showroom/ ] 
Another application, for flight simulators: 
[ https://hxc2001.com/showroom/HxC_Floppy_Emulator_Airplane_Dataloader.html | https://hxc2001.com/showroom/HxC_Floppy_Emulator_Airplane_Dataloader.html ] 
Best, 
Pierre Mounier-Kuhn 


De: "James A Hodges" <james.hodges at rutgers.edu> 
Cc: "members" <members at sigcis.org> 
Envoyé: Vendredi 5 Novembre 2021 16:08:22 
Objet: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Current use of floppy disks 

Perhaps also not what the journalist is looking to hear, but there are still some vintage music production tools (ie samplers and synthesizers) that use floppy disk storage. The Yamaha DX7 II FD synth and Akai s950 sampler are classic machines that still get used in studios today, and the Roland SP-808 sampler even uses ancient 100mb Zip Disks for storage! However, many of these machines, if they're still in use, have been updated to use new forms of storage or data transfer in place of the old floppy drives. This means that there is an interesting little cottage industry of people working to enable such conversions via new software and hardware. 

On Fri, Nov 5, 2021 at 6:28 AM McMillan, William W < [ mailto:william.mcmillan at cuaa.edu | william.mcmillan at cuaa.edu ] > wrote: 



Interesting question, Martin! 

There are plenty of us who have old files on floppy disks. I have a USB-connected floppy drive handy to read these if and when I want to. 

Some old Boeing 747s still use floppies: 
[ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33612762/boeing-747-floppy-disk-updates/ | https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33612762/boeing-747-floppy-disk-updates/ ] 

There are probably other dedicated real-time security and control systems in low-tech settings that still use floppies. 

Hobbyists and old-gear aficionados, including nostalgic gamers, still use them. (I have an old Windows 7 computer, with floppy drive, disconnected from the Internet, which I use just for computer programming.) 

Bill 

[ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33612762/boeing-747-floppy-disk-updates/ ] 
	
[ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33612762/boeing-747-floppy-disk-updates/ | Floppy Disks: Do They Still Work? | 747s Still Use Floppy Disks - Popular
 Mechanics ] 
Some Boeing 747s still use 3.5-inch floppy disks to load updated navigational databases. That sounds crazy, but it isn't. 
[ http://www.popularmechanics.com/ | www.popularmechanics.com ] 



From: Members < [ mailto:members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org | members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org ] > on behalf of Schmitt, Martin < [ mailto:martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de | martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de ] > 
Sent: Friday, November 5, 2021 6:57 AM 
To: Sigcis < [ mailto:members at sigcis.org | members at sigcis.org ] > 
Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Current use of floppy disks 
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: [ mailto:martin.schmitt at tu-darmstadt.de | 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 | https://www.springer.com/978-3-030-29159-4 ] 











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-- 
JAMES A. HODGES, PH.D. 
Bullard Postdoctoral Research Fellow 
T he University of Texas at Austin 
School of Information 
[ http://www.jameshodges.net/ | http://www.jameshodges.net ] 

Senior Book Reviews Editor 
[ https://infoculturejournal.org/ | Information & Culture ] 
Member, [ https://publicationethics.org/ | Committee on Publication Ethics ] (COPE) 

Junior Fellow, Rare Book School 
[ https://rarebookschool.org/admissions-awards/fellowships/sofcb/ | Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography ] 

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This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org 
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