Death of the floppy disk - R.I.P

Much to my chagrin, I learned today that the final death knell had rung for the humble floppy disk. Sad days indeed.

Sony has announced that it plans to lay this historic storage media to rest by March 6, 2011, after nearly 30 years of service.

The company proudly states on its website that it launched the world's first wafer thin 3.5-inch disk in 1981. It sold millions and millions of them over the next few years - many of which now lay dormant and dusty in my loft.

Floppies are largely forgotten about and neglected nowadays thanks to the continued success of the more versatile CD and DVD. The huge uptake of the internet and its downloadable content added the final nail into the coffin of the lowly plastic square.

I remember my move from cassette tape to floppy all those years ago with my Amiga 600. Think my first game was Putty. I couldn't believe that I no longer had to listen to the shrill scream of the cassette as it loaded all that 8-bit data... floppies were the future; silent, reliable and with vast amounts of storage space (!)... Happy days.

Floppy disks, I salute you. You will be fondly remembered...

R.I.P

(Photo credit: vnoel)