Is this finally the death of the floppy disk?

Originally published in GP magazine .

Written for GP magazine around 2003. This is the version I submitted - the published article may have been edited.

I remember when computers didn’t have a hard drive and only came with floppy drives. For some time now floppy disks have been next to useless. Most software is distributed on CDs, to save space and to save you having to repeatedly change disks. The largest standard floppy disk will hold up to 1.44MB of data. Unfortunately, only the simplest of documents will now fit onto this size. Most graphics files are bigger than this, and all sorts of files including PowerPoint presentations, music files and videos won’t go onto a floppy.

For some time I have used Zip disks to transfer data. I initially had the 100MB version and more recently have had the 250MB version. The problems are that disks are expensive and relatively slow to use, and not every machine comes with one. This can be a pain, particularly if you want to, for example, give a presentation on an unfamiliar machine and you don’t know if it will read your disks.

Recently a new development has become available. These are flash memory cards that work via the USB port. Most computers sold in the last five years have a USB port. The cards are small, about the size of a large key fob, and on one end have a USB port adapter. They often come with a hole on one end to keep on your key ring, though I have seen one advertised that is a watch and the USB adapter is on an extendable cable. A lot of new computers have USB ports on the front, though extension cables are usually provided to reach around the back if needed.

Windows 2000 and XP recognise the cards automatically when you plug them in. Windows 98 users will have to install a driver the first time they use it. A range of sizes is available from 8MB to 128MB, though larger ones are about to appear. Using the cards is as easy as plugging them in, after which they appear on your system as an additional hard drive. You can copy files over to them, open documents from them as normal and save back to them. In fact, I could see a time when you keep all your personal documents and even settings on the card, and you will be able to work at any computer you plug it into as if it is your own, with access to all your files etc.

Some of the cards come with a switch on them that prevents accidental erasure, and some come with compression software to try and fit more data on them. Some, like the Backup Buddy, will even automatically back up your software from the main computer hard disk.