The original digital storage device is still used in the embroidery, tools and dye, and airline industries — aircraft maintenance in particular
20 October 2022 - 13:53
byPhil Lavelle
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Tom Persky, owner of floppydisk.com, has thousands of second-hand disks stored at his warehouse in Lake Forest, California, US. Picture: REUTERS/ALAN DEVALL
Lake Forest, California — It has been two decades since their heyday, but one bulk supplier of the iconic 3.5-inch floppy disk used to store data in the 1990s says business is still booming.
Tom Persky runs floppydisk.com, an online disk recycling service that takes in new and used disks before sending them onto a reliable customer base. He reckons he sells about 500 disks a day.
Who buys floppy disks in an age when even more sophisticated storage devices such CD-ROMS, DVDs and USB flash drives are becoming obsolete with the rise of internet and cloud storage? Those in the embroidery, tools and dye, and airline industry, especially those involved in aircraft maintenance, says Persky.
“If you built a plane 20 or 30 or even 40 years ago, you would use a floppy disk to get information in and out of some of the avionics of that aeroplane,” the 73-year-old Persky says.
In his warehouse, shelves are packed with green, orange, blue, yellow or black disks sent from around the world. At one end sits a large magnetic machine with a conveyor belt that wipes out information on disks, while another machine slaps labels on them.
The warehouse also holds 8-inch floppy disks — an even older storage medium — including one labelled as containing the 1960 US presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Despite being a relic in the modern world, Persky says floppy disks have several redeeming qualities. “Floppy disks are very reliable, very stable, a very well-understood way to get information in and out of a machine,” he says. “Plus, they have the additional feature of not being very hackable.”
Persky ended up in the floppy disk business after working in software development for a tax company in the 1990s that duplicated its software onto floppy disks. He says he fell in love with the business and took it on after it was spun off.
But he is not expecting it to survive another 20 years.
“When I see the ‘save’ icon, I see a floppy disk. But most people just see the icon,” Persky said. “I’ll be here for as long as people continue to want these disks. But it’s not forever.”
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
The floppy disk’s alive and well
The original digital storage device is still used in the embroidery, tools and dye, and airline industries — aircraft maintenance in particular
Lake Forest, California — It has been two decades since their heyday, but one bulk supplier of the iconic 3.5-inch floppy disk used to store data in the 1990s says business is still booming.
Tom Persky runs floppydisk.com, an online disk recycling service that takes in new and used disks before sending them onto a reliable customer base. He reckons he sells about 500 disks a day.
Who buys floppy disks in an age when even more sophisticated storage devices such CD-ROMS, DVDs and USB flash drives are becoming obsolete with the rise of internet and cloud storage? Those in the embroidery, tools and dye, and airline industry, especially those involved in aircraft maintenance, says Persky.
“If you built a plane 20 or 30 or even 40 years ago, you would use a floppy disk to get information in and out of some of the avionics of that aeroplane,” the 73-year-old Persky says.
In his warehouse, shelves are packed with green, orange, blue, yellow or black disks sent from around the world. At one end sits a large magnetic machine with a conveyor belt that wipes out information on disks, while another machine slaps labels on them.
The warehouse also holds 8-inch floppy disks — an even older storage medium — including one labelled as containing the 1960 US presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Despite being a relic in the modern world, Persky says floppy disks have several redeeming qualities. “Floppy disks are very reliable, very stable, a very well-understood way to get information in and out of a machine,” he says. “Plus, they have the additional feature of not being very hackable.”
Persky ended up in the floppy disk business after working in software development for a tax company in the 1990s that duplicated its software onto floppy disks. He says he fell in love with the business and took it on after it was spun off.
But he is not expecting it to survive another 20 years.
“When I see the ‘save’ icon, I see a floppy disk. But most people just see the icon,” Persky said. “I’ll be here for as long as people continue to want these disks. But it’s not forever.”
Reuters
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