this person got it all wrong but note when she/he says that no big pc manufacturer would commit to a single super floppy. now that cpq has commited, is it over?
Floppy wins by default as fight continues
(Waikato Times; 06/04/98)
As the floppy disk becomes an antique, the contenders are lining up to claim
the storage system crown. Russell Joyce looks at the options.
--------------------
DEAR OLD floppy disks. Unless you're storing documents on them, they're
almost useless now. They're just too small. Their 1.4 megabyte (Mb) capacity
isn't even enough for a high resolution picture today.
So why are new machines still being sold with one? Because the industry has
yet to decide what's going to replace them.
The problem is that our demand for computer storage space is increasing
faster than technology can be developed to meet it.
The top contender to replace the floppy disk is the sumo-sized digital video
disk (DVD), with a giant 5.2 gigabyte (Gb) capacity on each cheap Cd-rom disk.
Unfortunately, the industry is still squabbling over the DVD standard --
which means a DVD unit bought now might not match the new standard and will go
out of date even faster than computer equipment usually does.
But while we wait for a decision, the need for computer storage space
continues.
What are the alternatives?
Probably the best option, for now, is a CD-rewritable. These drives can copy
up to 650Mb of data on to a $40 CD-rom disk -- and can write new data over the
top, just like a floppy disk drive does.
The CD-rewritable cost about $1000 -- the same price DVD drives are expected
to sell for -- and can be fitted inside the computer or sat beside it and
plugged in.
A slightly cheaper option is a CD-writer, which uses CD-roms that you can
only copy on to once.
The unit costs about $1000, but the CD-rom disks are cheap -- only $4-$5
each.
These CD-writer and rewriter drives can be used as an ordinary Cd- rom drive
too, although they are a bit slow.
They spin a disk six times faster than a music CD, as opposed to many new CD-
rom drives which spin the disk more than 30 times faster.
The Cd-rom's spin speed affects how fast a computer can access the data.
If $1000-$1100 is too much, there are a number of cheaper options.
An extra 2Gb hard drive costs $350, but how long would it be before that was
full too?
Zip drives have been popular for a while and have several advantages. The
latest version, Zip Plus, sells for $300, with each $25 cartridge able to hold
100Mb of data.
THE SIXTH alternative is a drive which accepts both the old 1.4Mb floppies
and new high-capacity media.
An example is Iomega's Superdisk drive, which has $25 disks which hold 125Mb
of data. These so-called superfloppies, however, are only of real use to those
who want to store large files next to their machines.
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