Farewell then, floppy disk

DIXONS STORES GROUP decisions to drop products have become a nice source of leads for journalists happy to be spoon-fed opportunities to write obituaries of ancient technologies.

DSG gained plenty of publicity when it dumped VCRs and non-digital cameras and scored another nice round of media attention this time around with the announcement that floppy disks will not longer be stocked. Google News counts 246 stories on the topic with entries extending from Business Week and BBC News to Australia's The Age. Our own Martin Lynch wrote a column on it earlier this week.

The announcement offers a useful peg on which we can hang a story with a bit of colour but it's hard to shed even a crocodile tear over the demise of the floppy, a naff dinosaur that would have been pensioned off a lot earlier.

The 5.25-inch versions were worse but the 3.5-inch models were still a pain and had a worse habit of disappearing under piles of papers. They were also unreliable and had paltry capacities. You couldn't even use them as a key-ring attachment or dump them as a “gift” to friends and family as you can with USB keys. CDs, DVDs, removable drives… all of them far better options.

In this space way back I suggested that CRTs were also over the hill and we should say good riddance to old rubbish. Few of you agreed though, so, in the spirit of community journalism, we want to hear your thoughts on legacy kit. QWERTY keyboards, trackballs, floppy drives, 1394, IrDA, dialup modems, ISDN, desktop cases, anything else you can name. What should be shot and what deserves a stay of execution?

Keep your responses pithy and a few lucky winners will get a prize of some sort. µ

See Also
Floppy disks finally get the retail chop