Talking about floppy disks means taking a trip into a past that seems increasingly distant to us. This external storage format was no doubt one of the most important in the history of computingand has gone through various phases over the years.

I remember well that in my early days in the tech world, 3.5 inch floppy disks were very popular and were the most used means of sharing files and gamesIn fact, DOOM II appeared on floppy disks, which continued with the advent of CDs, because the prices of burners were very high and not all of us could afford to buy one.

Time does not pass in vain, there is no doubt about it, and the end of floppy disks is gradually spreading to many companies, entities and even countries. In this sense, one of the last to announce the end of floppy disk use was Japan, but that shouldn’t lead us to believe that floppy disks are dead, although we are surprised the exact opposite happens. This storage system continues to be very popular and in demand, although it is true that it mainly comes from professional, industrial and healthcare sectors.

Tom Persky, the founder of an online store that still sells floppy disks, is the clearest example that this external storage medium still very much alive. According to Persky, he frequently repairs floppy disks and also recycles and sells packages containing varying amounts of floppy disks at prices that we might honestly consider high for the cost-per-megabyte ratio. Yes, for this type of drive, we have to talk about the price per megabyte, because each disk has a capacity of 1.44 MB.

For example, a pack of 10 floppy disks can be purchased from $14.95. This leaves us with a total storage capacity of 14.4 MB and price per megabyte $0.96. We can also easily calculate the cost of 1 GB of storage capacity on floppy disks, because we know that this amount will be 1024 MB, and that would be impressive, nothing more and nothing less than $986 per GB.

However, it is important to keep in mind that companies, entities and medical centers that continue to purchase diskettes do not have high storage requirements because the equipment and technology they use were developed to accommodate this maximum of 1.44MB. Anecdotally, Persky has confirmed that its best clients include the airline sector, which is that around half of the aircraft still in service they are over 20 years old and use floppy disk based computer systems.

The exact same thing happens in the business and industrial world. An important part of global companies and industries founded several decades agoand in its construction and operation, they chose the best available technology so that it can operate for many years. This allowed us to find today computer machines and equipment that are 20, 30 or even 40 years old and still in useand which are apparently based on floppy disks.

If we’re talking about the regular consumer market, it’s clear that floppy disks have had no place for years they are a key piece for retro lovers so that you can continue to enjoy your favorite teams and embark on new projects that revolve around those teams. In that sense, one of the most interesting and unique platforms out there in the retro floppy world is the Sharp X68000, and what can I say, I wish I had my hands on one.