Until now, floppy disks were able to hold their own against the onslaught of digital-age, higher quality, and more advanced technologies being unveiled. Despite their relatively small 1.44 megabyte capacity, floppies remained constant, standard hardware for over 18 years. But even long-standing technologies eventually reach obsolescence, tossed into the pass?© box in the attic next to eight-tracks and typewriters.
Dell Computer Corporation has announced its intentions to toss the floppy disk into that box in the attic. In an end-of-an-era decision, Dell has announced that starting in April, floppy disk drives will no longer be standard in its desktop computers, and offered only as an option.
Dell spokesman Lionel Menchaca said that the decision was made after focus group research with its customers.
"When we would ask the question to people 'do you need a floppy?' the answer to that question would be yes," Menchaca said. "But when we asked them how long it had been since they used it, they would say six months, a year. Many couldn't remember the last time they used the floppy drive."
At the dawn of the computer age, it was easy to fit computer programs onto a couple of floppies due to their sizes. First introduced at 5.25 inches, the floppy disk became a household name after Sony Corporation presented a 3.5 inch diskette in 1980. The 3.5 inch diskette went on to become the most widely-trusted and used method of transferring computer information.
But as the digital age advanced and brought forth insatiable cravings for DVD burners, MP3 players, and even tinier storage spaces for countless photos and e-mail records, the floppy disk's degree of efficiency has become more and more inadequate.
How will Dell's decision to forgo standard installation of floppy disk drives affect the methods University students use to save information -- and their college-student budgets?
Because Tufts OnLine supported systems are available through Dell Computers, the company is popular throughout the school. Therefore, both incoming students and current students updating their computer systems will most likely be purchasing computers sans a standard floppy drive. Even those students who use other brands of computers, however, will be affected by the Dell decision, which has the potential to spur other companies to abandon floppy disk drives in a similar manner.
Freshman engineering student Ilan Behm has no qualms with the imminent demise of the floppy disk. "The CD killed the record players in the 80s and now it's going to kill the floppy disks too," he said. "Get over it, it's 2003!"
Kathleen Cummings, a director in the Tufts Computing and Communications Services council, says college students "should be aware of a new technology that provides more storage than the floppy and costs about the same."
"It is a 16MB USB memory key [$20]. It looks like a small key chain. You simply plug it into your desktop/laptop and download the files," she said.
In fact, despite being both lighter and smaller, the USB Memory Key has the ability to store more information than ten or more standard 3.5 inch floppy disks. The Memory Key can be ordered and used in place of a floppy drive on the Dell Inspiron 4150 and 8200 models, but it will also work on any computer that has a USB port.
This means that the USB keys can be used between students' PCs and laptops (and computers in Eaton Computer Lab) so long as the computers have the same operating system.
The USB key has already surpassed floppy disks in some students' preferences. "I never use floppy drives," freshman Ed Kalarfarski said. "Most of what [I] save, such as video files, does not fit on floppies."
As many students share Kalafarski's viewpoint, a large proportion of the student body will not be dramatically affected by the floppy drive's downward spiral in the face of newer, cheaper, and more efficient technologies.
When working at Eaton, most students use CDs to transfer information. Other students send the necessary information and documents through their own e-mail accounts, allowing them to access that data from Eaton's computers. Only those students who still rely on floppy disks will be affected if Eaton's current computers are eventually fully replaced with updated computers lacking floppy drives.
Come April, Dell customers will still have the option of purchasing their computer with a floppy drive. Those that prefer this older method of saving and transferring information typically do so because the floppy disk is essentially universally accepted in many computers. As far as compact discs go, many CD-ROMs will not read certain kinds of CDs, but most hard drives are able to read floppy disks.
The price for the optional floppy drive has not yet been reached, but students such as Kalafarski aren't worried: "I barely know anyone who doesn't just burn CDs," Kalafarski said.
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