• fjordbasa@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      10 months ago

      5.25” floppy disk: information stored on non rigid disc with non-rigid protective covering.

      3.5” floppy disk: information stored on non rigid disc with rigid casing.

      The newer, smaller disks were also called floppy because the actual disc inside was just as floppy as its predecessor.

      I think OP was reluctant to call it their disk a floppy despite it being historically referred to as such

      • klemptor@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        10 months ago

        I always called the 3.5 a “diskette” (or an “A drive” which was incorrect but everyone knew what you meant).

    • virku@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      10 months ago

      The 5.25 inch floppy disk were actually very bendy (floppy), while the 3.5 inch one was rigid, so I guess that’s why OP named it that?

      • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        10 months ago

        Yeah. Everyone I knew always called them floppies whether they were 8" (mostly before my time), 5¼" or 3.5". Op was probably just adding for humor or something.

      • radix@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        10 months ago

        I worked at a university computer lab in the late 90s, and soooo many people referred to the 3.5"ers as “hard disks.”

        • virku@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          10 months ago

          That one hurt! I don’t know if it is because it was so wrong, or if it is because it was kind of logical.

    • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      10 months ago

      Some people assumed that “floppy disk” referred to the disk’s protective jacket, which was neither a disk nor (in the case of these smaller ones) floppy.

      It’s possible that OP understands that the disk inside is floppy, and is just making a joke.