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The First Floppy Disk
IBM started working their magic during 1967. They had the disk working, though it was still in development. Some of the big computers even had drives for the engineers to test on. -
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FIrst Retail of Floppy Drives
IBM started to sell their creation during 1971. They did well, as they replaced punch cards and showed potential. Later in 1972, IBM patented the design. The first drive was small on storage and big in size. The disk were 8-inches and only had the capacity of 175KB. -
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Development
As time went on, the floppy disk started to become a staple the industry. IBM worked on making their drives bigger and faster, while other companies such as Apple started to get in the mix. IBM released the IBM Shugart 850, which had 800-1200KB depending on the format, and the 5.25 inch DD, which had less stroage space when compared to other drives, but was almost 3 inches smaller! Apple got into the market too. Apple drives were smaller than IBM's 5.25inch DD even though they were the smaller -
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Last Laugh for Floppy Disk
While floppy disk were still being developed, it was soon time for them to be replaced. In the 80s and early 90s, floppy disk were king. They shinked in size but stay relitivaly the same in storage size only about doubling thier size. Floppy disk were made by more than just IBM and Apple at this point. While still in wide use, other answers where being found for removable storage. Things such as DVD and CD-ROM were in development, and USB was closing in at the end of the 20th century. -
USB - A step in the digital direction
While Floppy Disk were awesome, USB was amazing*. USB was first launched on December 15, 2000. A USB port was required to use the device, though one could argue it was worth it. USB thumb drives were fast and offered 8MB of space. The end was close for the Floppy Disk *opinion -
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USB - The New Standard
USB thumb drives took off after their launch in 2000. They have grown over 4096 times their original size while staying the same size. To this day, USB is still growing. Supporting more than just removable storage, USB ports are also used for accessories like keyboards and mice. The Floppy Drive is not used as often as it was in the 20th century, but it can still be found being used as a novelty and rarely actual storage.