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herodoturtle | 1 month ago

Cool idea!

Is the terminology correct though?

Looking at the showcased disks, in my youth we called these “stiffy disks” - owing to their stiff plastic casing.

We also had “floppy disks” - but these were larger (in size, albeit with less storage capacity) and floppier (the plastic case would bend easily).

I treasured my burgundy Dysan stiffy disk boxes!

discuss

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lobf|1 month ago

At least in the US, the "floppy" terminology carried over when the disks went from the actual floppy 5.5" disks to the hard-case 3.5" disks.

herodoturtle|1 month ago

thanks, that's an insightful comment.

so defs not a globally consistent usage of the term then?

judging by the article's authorship, i'm guessing denmark and US the same

so perhaps US and EU but not elsewhere?

tfvlrue|1 month ago

I was under the impression that a floppy disk is referring to the substrate that holds the data, not the cartridge that contains it. So a 3.5" floppy disk would be "floppy" in contrast to a 3.5" hard disk drive that has rigid metal or glass platters.

This nomenclature could be a regional thing though (I'm from the US).

krupan|1 month ago

I have never heard that term (for disks). Are you possibly from the UK or Australia?

herodoturtle|1 month ago

> I have never heard that term

Are you also from the US like the other commenter on this sub-thread?

bryceacc|1 month ago

as a 31 year old, I only just last year learned that what I have thought were floppy disks and everyone calls a floppy disk are indeed a stiffy...

herodoturtle|1 month ago

i feel like you're onto something here...

a marketing campaign for middle-aged men perhaps