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Origins of the 3.5in Floppy Disk

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  • čas přidán 18. 08. 2024

Komentáře • 486

  • @LGR
    @LGR Před 10 měsíci +238

    Phenomenal work on this one, Shelby! Props for following all the rabbits down their various rabbit holes and then seeking out that rare hardware to get to the bottom of the story. I love seeing commonly accepted tech history being expanded upon and corrected like this, especially with something as iconic as the 3.5" disk.

    • @TechTangents
      @TechTangents  Před 10 měsíci +25

      Thanks! This one had a *ton* of rabbit holes I even cut for the video! Like technically the "Computer Devices DOT" was the first PC compatible-ish computer with 3.5in drives! But it was fascinating to put all the pieces in place for this one and finally understand how it all played out.
      And I cannot believe the right-place-right-time with the Jonos to actually get one and am really looking forward to shedding more light soon!

    • @ReggieArford
      @ReggieArford Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@TechTangents And then there's this: The Apple LISA (!) used 3.5" floppies, just like its successor the Macintosh did.

    • @peti7788
      @peti7788 Před 9 měsíci +1

      @LGR The first 3,5 disk was developed by Marcell Jánosi at the Budapest Rádiótechnikai Gyár (BRG) in 1973. The disk and the associated BRG MCD-1 type drive received domestic patent protection in 1974. The BRG factory negotiated with Sony for a long time, but in the end Sony did not wait and meanwhile developed its own version. But Sony took over the basic idea from BRG.

    • @greggv8
      @greggv8 Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@ReggieArford Lisa used 5.25" "Twiggy" drives that use disks the same size as Shugart 5.25" drives but they're not compatible. Since Lisa was a sales flop, Apple revamped the computer as the Macintosh XL with 3.5" drives and the Macintosh System ported to it.

    • @ReggieArford
      @ReggieArford Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@greggv8 Really? The two Lisas I own both have OEM 3.5" drives. The documentation I've got shows 3.5" drives. The documentation I've seen shows 3.5" drives. CZcams videos I've seen all have 3.5' drives. Please cite your source(s).

  • @ssalient
    @ssalient Před 10 měsíci +169

    The 3.5” disk will probably never be forgotten as it’s the universal save-icon in almost all programs.

    • @AntonioBarba_TheKaneB
      @AntonioBarba_TheKaneB Před 10 měsíci +5

      smartphone and web apps don't have save icons anymore, they save automatically, so I'm not sure about that!

    • @the_kombinator
      @the_kombinator Před 9 měsíci +2

      And they fly well when thrown ;)

    • @user-rm3qj5ex7e
      @user-rm3qj5ex7e Před 9 měsíci +1

      Smart phones auto save and don’t use the Icon, sorry bud your a boomer

    • @the_kombinator
      @the_kombinator Před 9 měsíci +4

      @@user-rm3qj5ex7e And what if he is? You're implying that it has some negative connotations like a sex offender or some Marxist.

    • @JaredConnell
      @JaredConnell Před 9 měsíci +1

      ​@@the_kombinatorwow that took a strange turn.

  • @eddiehimself
    @eddiehimself Před 10 měsíci +248

    I do think it's funny how it was developed by Sony, who originally defined it in metric as being 90 mm wide but we then called it 3.5" to fit in with the convention of 8" and 5.25" floppy drives lol.

    • @JamesTK
      @JamesTK Před 10 měsíci +10

      Yeah, an actual 3.5" floppy wouldn't even be compatible... 🤣

    • @2dfx
      @2dfx Před 10 měsíci +34

      Americans gonna American I guess...

    • @thisnthat3530
      @thisnthat3530 Před 10 měsíci +9

      On all the boxes of 3.5" floppies I saw where there was french text it was labelled as an 89mm floppy. 89mm is closer to 3.5" than 90mm so maybe it was actually designed as 3.5" to begin with?

    • @AGFuzzyPancake
      @AGFuzzyPancake Před 10 měsíci +14

      I am always floored when I give people measurements in millimeters or centimeters in the US and get replies like "what's that in inches? I don't know metric". These are generally people over 40.
      I worked at a printing company once, and we would measure things down to 16ths of inches. The spite Americans have for metric measurement knows no limits.

    • @quayzar1
      @quayzar1 Před 10 měsíci +9

      @@AGFuzzyPancake Unfortunately when Ronald Reagan killed our plans to fully switch to metric a lot of people dug in their heels. I'm 35 and was taught metric primarily in school but once I became an adult there was little sold here with metric measurements. Even tape measurers are not usually printed with metric and sae which is ridiculous. On the other hand I drive a Ford and every bolt on it is in metric.

  • @dv_vid
    @dv_vid Před 4 měsíci +5

    When I was a teenager in 1995, I was given a Compaq SLT/286. I took it apart and messed up the floppy drive which was a Citizen customized for that laptop. I bought a standard 34 pin TEAC drive to replace it but the cable had 20 pins. I spent the summer of 1995 going to the library to research the signals and bought a logic probe from RadioShack to reverse engineer the pins. Then I took the 20 pin ribbon cable and mapped it into a 34 pin receptacle.

  • @IcyEyeG
    @IcyEyeG Před 10 měsíci +81

    The most fascinating thing to me about your research is the relatively short window of time in which everything transpired. I got my first PC in 1993, and as a kid I thought 3.5in floppies were a recent innovation.

    • @Staren01
      @Staren01 Před 10 měsíci +2

      I got my first computer around the same time 93/94. I knew that 3.5in drives weren't that new, but I didn't think they were that old either. I was 11 and the 5.5in floppy was still very common in the older school computers. 3.5in discs were the undisputed standard that you knew any current system would be able to read. Where I went to school a lot of classrooms were just starting to replace the Apple IIs with IBM compatibles that had 3.5in drives.

    • @dfirth224
      @dfirth224 Před 9 měsíci +1

      1980s office computers used 8" floppy disks. Looked identical to 5.25" only larger. And they WERE floppy if you waved them like a sheet of paper.

    • @paulgray1699
      @paulgray1699 Před 9 měsíci

      @@dfirth224 Hard sectored

    • @cericat
      @cericat Před 9 měsíci

      @@Staren01 My school got their first Apple IIs (I believe the IIe specifically) in 1989 yes very late to the party but public schools, my first home computer had both 5.25" and 3.5" which was a trend for me throughout the past 30 years I still like to try to have working disk drives since there's still a lot of old media out there that needs backing up, pity newer boards often ditch the FDC so I need to look into alternatives since PCIe slots are such a dang premium still.

    • @IrishCarney
      @IrishCarney Před 7 dny

      The computer industry moved so fast in the late 70s and 80s. Compared to then, it's been very stable for a long time now.

  • @PrinceAlhorian
    @PrinceAlhorian Před 9 měsíci +8

    Here in South Africa we called the 8 inch and 5.25 inch disks "Floppy" disks, because they were so flexible.
    The 3.5 inch we called "Stiffies" because of the hardend plastic chassis.

  • @dereinzigeweg
    @dereinzigeweg Před 10 měsíci +35

    Boot up floopy seek on a 3.5" is still one of my favorite childhood sounds. Thank you Sony, thank you TT.

    • @MeriaDuck
      @MeriaDuck Před 10 měsíci +1

      And the dreaded seeking from 0 to 80 / head slamming on a bad disk still haunts me 😂. Or the slight incompatibility between mine and my friends, so it was🤞 to see if the shared documents survived the trip between us.

    • @herrbonk3635
      @herrbonk3635 Před 10 měsíci

      While the 5 inch diskette drive seek sound is a favorite from my youth (not childhood).

  • @FooneTuring
    @FooneTuring Před 10 měsíci +92

    I'm frankly disappointed this video isn't just a biography of me! But I all seriousness, awesome research!

    • @TechTangents
      @TechTangents  Před 10 měsíci +38

      At least you got a cameo! And thanks! It was a lot of work to make sure I really nailed the research on this one.

  • @NJRoadfan
    @NJRoadfan Před 10 měsíci +44

    Awaiting the Jonos video. Never heard of them before!
    One rabbit hole I went down was to figure out the origin of the modern "half height" 3.5" floppy drive with integrated face plate.... aka the "standard" drives we all use today. Best I could pin it down, it was made by TEAC first in 1987. I think Epson was another contender here as well. Chinon came close, they were shipping the slightly taller drives with the Amiga 2000 in 1987. Keep in mind that IBM never originally sold drives in that style. The PS/2 had separate face plates (including the official 3.5" drives for the PC AT). Same goes with the early Amigas and the Atari ST. Apple had the fancy motorized eject drives and they never used face plates either, always preferring a molded slot in the computer's case.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 9 měsíci

      Woah woah... what do you know about official 3.5" drives for the AT? I've been trying to figure out if one ever existed, or if it's just a slew of aftermarket products trying to fill the void?

    • @NJRoadfan
      @NJRoadfan Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@nickwallette6201 Official IBM product. They used the 720k drives that were shipped in the PC Convertible with an adapter board. They offered kits for both the 5170 AT and earlier PC XT with matching face plates and fit a 5.25" half height drive bay.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@NJRoadfan Huh! Man I would love to see that. All I've ever seen is retrofits with the typical 3.5-to-5.25" conversion plate.

  • @parkerlreed
    @parkerlreed Před 10 měsíci +63

    Holy crap, that hardware reveal is gorgeous.

    • @dimbulb23
      @dimbulb23 Před 9 měsíci

      I must admit the 3741 at 1:09 was snazzy. I worked for IBM from '68 to '98... always in the field with the machines in our customer's businesses. I don't get very worked up when it comes to old iron. When you deal with all those generations of technology it is better not to linger on the past. It's better to embrace the changes and hold onto your hat. When I think back over those 30 years, I remember the people I worked with, the bugs I never fixed (usually software bugs) and the tough bugs I fixed that others couldn't. It wasn't about the hardware or software that was pretty but about trying to fix what was wrong with it.

  • @St0rmcrash
    @St0rmcrash Před 10 měsíci +67

    Awesome history video! I've read that the Amstrad CPC ended up using the 3 inch drives because they basically picked them up at a bargain after the Sony 3.5in disk won. Really hope the next video is about the Jonos!

    • @imranahmad2733
      @imranahmad2733 Před 10 měsíci +7

      I remember the Amstrad PCW 8256 and the Sinclair Spectrum +3 had them aswell, the disks where pretty durable too compared to the 3.5" disks.

    • @synthnerd4539
      @synthnerd4539 Před 10 měsíci +4

      I think Casio used them on a thing or two in the mid 80s as well in their foray into semi pro music gear. Although I always knew them as 2.8" QuikDisks?

    • @k0mori_yt
      @k0mori_yt Před 10 měsíci +5

      The Sega SC-3000 computer, released in 1983, also used 3-inch disks via the SF-7000 expansion device.

    • @TheWeepingCorpse
      @TheWeepingCorpse Před 10 měsíci

      @@imranahmad2733 i was writting a speccy +3 game and discovered that disks formatted on an amstrad pcw 8256 would read and write much faster on the speccy than those formatted on a speccy, i never discovered why, the project was cancelled.

    • @EgoShredder
      @EgoShredder Před 10 měsíci

      Yep and also in the other Amstrad owned model the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128K +3. I wonder if TT will do an episode about those 3" disks?

  • @damouze
    @damouze Před 10 měsíci +26

    Very interesting video!
    I remember my dad getting our first PC. It came originally shipped with two 5.25" floppy drives, but one of them was soon replaced with a DSDD 3.5" drive and later on with even a DSHD floppy drive.
    Anyway, that PC was ultimately replaced by a new PC, a 486SX if I'm not mistaken and the PC was handed over to me. It continued to serve me well for a couple of years, until I replaced it with an AT from the same brand. By that time it not only had two floppy drives, but it had an "external" MFM/RLL (can't remember which) 20MB hard disk made by Olivetti, that would have fitted perfectly in one of the floppy drive slots, were it not for the fact that it had a tendency to get very hot. You could say that this was my very first adventure in PC modding ;-).
    I still use 3.5" floppy drives on a regular basis. But it's not really on a PC (although I have a PC with an LS-120 drive for data transfer purposes). Instead it's on an MSX. That MSX is so maxed out that it has more RAM and more storage than my original PC ever did...

  • @SobieRobie
    @SobieRobie Před 9 měsíci +2

    Dig deeper about this Jonos company. There is a big chance to meet people which were working for the company. I love the stories from S100 era. It's like learning about first pioneers ;)

  • @blehblah9942
    @blehblah9942 Před 10 měsíci +39

    Very interesting and informative, you should rename it to "Origins of the Save Game Icon" though, it would give you a quadrillion views from all those youngsters that never held one of these :P

    • @MeriaDuck
      @MeriaDuck Před 10 měsíci +3

      If you show one to such youngster, they ask if it is a 3d printed save icon 😂

  • @vwestlife
    @vwestlife Před 10 měsíci +5

    For a closer look at the 3.5 inch diskette's many innovative design features, see my video "The genius engineering of the 3½ inch floppy disk".

  • @mattnordsell9760
    @mattnordsell9760 Před 10 měsíci +24

    It's always interesting how so many things have been innovated by Sony that we don't tend to think about. As you mentioned, they were the ones who developed the 3.5" floppy, they also worked with Philips to develop the CD, they developed the Beta tape that lost to the VHS tape, they were even the ones that created the Blu-ray. These are just a few that come to mind that we don't often associate with them.

    • @Biomancer81
      @Biomancer81 Před 10 měsíci +6

      Most of the time Sony likes to have their products end to end proprietary, and completely under their control, and so certain formats that they created, even if superior failed. This isnt always the case, as in this product or blu-ray, but you rarely think about Betamax, MemoryStick, or Minidisc.

    • @juanignacioaschura9437
      @juanignacioaschura9437 Před 10 měsíci +4

      If only Sony wasn't so inclined into making things proprietary, they would have been even far more influential

    • @RebeccaTurner-ny1xx
      @RebeccaTurner-ny1xx Před 9 měsíci +2

      @@Biomancer81 And the Elcaset!

    • @TassieLorenzo
      @TassieLorenzo Před 9 měsíci +1

      VHS is somehow derived from Sony's U-Matic tape system, isn't it? At least that's what Sony claimed on their advertising at the time. The slogan was something along the lines of "Betamax: We created the competition and now we've bettered it". Please correct me if I'm wrong or the slogan is just a sign of Sony hubris! There certainly seems to be nothing Sony likes more than to create a proprietary format!

    • @IrishCarney
      @IrishCarney Před 7 dny +1

      Sony & Philips also co-developed the standard audio cassette. When it came time to develop a digital successor to that small enclosed portable analog format (like digital CDs replacing analog records) Sony & Philips disagreed on strategy. Philips, fearing format churn would alienate customers, wanted back compatibility with analog tapes, hence Digital Compact Cassette. Sony, fearing long fast-forward/rewind would alienate customers used to CDs, wanted instant access to any track; hence MiniDisc. The format war likely killed both.

  • @edwardhasted3849
    @edwardhasted3849 Před 9 měsíci +2

    Fascinating and thank you for all your sleuthing. We started selling ACT Apricot Pcs in September 1983 which had single or double floppies in the base (non-HD) models. From memory they were Sony units and the smaller height versions. Clearly ACT had been talking to Sony for some time...

  • @brentboswell1294
    @brentboswell1294 Před 10 měsíci +2

    In the 1980's, a hard drive more than doubled the price of a PC. It was common for computers to have dual disk drives, one for booting the computer up, and later holding the disk for the program being run, and the second one for holding your saved data. In the transition phase from 5.25" to 3.5", it was common to replace the B: drive with a 3.5" model, often with an adapter kit, that bridged the gap to allow it to fit in a half height 5.25" drive bay. When they started going into PC's, the drives had a Shugart data interface, but with a row of pins instead of the edge connectors that 5.25" and 8" drives used (there were, of course, adapters for this problem...). The IBM PC/XT/AT BIOS didn't really have a 3.5" option, which is another reason why the 3.5" drive was usually the B: drive (the only thing that you needed the BIOS for was booting the system-once it was booted, the operating system could bridge the gap once again). There was third-party software that you could run to tell the operating system the proper parameters for the B: drive to work properly and use the full capacity of the drive. Many IBM PC clones had 3.5" disk options in their BIOS, and shipped with a floppy controller that natively understood the 3.5" drives. The IBM PS/2 systems were the first IBM desktop systems designed for the 3.5" floppy.

    • @IrishCarney
      @IrishCarney Před 7 dny +1

      Even the floppy disk drives hugely increased the price of a computer. That's why, especially in the early to mid 80s, going by cassette was a major option. The original IBM PC even had that as a starter option but it was basically never used; I think only a single diagnostic app ever came out on cassette.

  • @static-san
    @static-san Před 10 měsíci +7

    The very earliest IBM PC JX computers (only sold in Australia, NZ and Japan) had 40 track 3.5" floppies. But that was because the controller didn't know how to half-step the disk head! The disks were actually 720k disks.

  • @stevekristoff4365
    @stevekristoff4365 Před 10 měsíci +5

    Very well researched. From someone who lived through all those years and used cassette, 8", 5.25", 3.5" (as well as 'enterprise' 3420, 3480/3490, and many others) I do not believe I ever even heard of Jonos which was/is interesting. Their market must have been targeted differently than the two 'worlds' I straddled (data centers/ large business and home / soho). So thanks for the bringing that small piece of history to my attention. :)

  • @thereallantesh
    @thereallantesh Před 10 měsíci +8

    Great video. You really went in depth with your research. I really enjoyed this one.

  • @tomahzo
    @tomahzo Před 7 měsíci +1

    I thought this was well-documented history. Fascinating how stuff like this can become as exciting as some kind of crime drama ;D. It's like "WHO DUNNIT!? WHO MARKETED THE FIRST 3.5" FLOPPY DRIVE!?" . Crazy! Excellent video!

  • @GeoffreySwales
    @GeoffreySwales Před 10 měsíci +8

    This is a great video. All the additional research has definitely paid off. Well done!

  • @DarkFiber23
    @DarkFiber23 Před 10 měsíci +7

    Good historical research work, Shelby! This was a wonderful watch.

  • @joemelnick
    @joemelnick Před 10 měsíci +1

    Thank you for the video. I purchased an Atari 520ST in 1985 with a 3.5" floppy drive, Definitely a step up from the 5.25" of the Apple II and the Cassette Tape Drive of the TI-99/4A.

  • @helldog3105
    @helldog3105 Před 10 měsíci +3

    This is really fascinating. I find it interesting that even in early episodes of The Computer Chronicles they talk about the ongoing transition from 5.25 disks to 3.5 disks. Since the show started in 1981, it shouldn't be a surprise, but it's interesting nonetheless. Cool history piece. I am curious to hear more about this Jonos Computers some time. I think I will start doing some digging of my own into them to see what I can see.

  • @paulalmquist5683
    @paulalmquist5683 Před 8 měsíci

    Well done. Having lived through several decades of computer history I find it quite interesting to learn details that I had not heard about when it happened.

  • @LukeRichardson1981
    @LukeRichardson1981 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Great video. It's funny to me that the one that wasn't even floppy became the best known of all of the 'floppy' formats, so much so that it's still the default icon for 'Save' on computers 40 years after its introduction.

    • @Raguleader
      @Raguleader Před 8 měsíci

      The disk itself is still floppy, as you can see at a few points in the video. It's the protective cassette that isn't floppy.
      In contrast, a Hard Disk uses non-flexible platters instead of floppy media.

  • @jimmywubs7381
    @jimmywubs7381 Před 9 měsíci +1

    Great job, guy. I was honestly expecting this to be some half-assed CZcams documentary and I am glad I watched it to the end. Kudos to you on a job well done!

  • @TastyBusiness
    @TastyBusiness Před 10 měsíci +2

    Fascinating, and well researched! I dig this format, and I totally want to see more of that Jonos Courier. Nicely done!

  • @__drew9576
    @__drew9576 Před 10 měsíci +6

    This is a really cool video. I think it would be cool to see a video going over every storage medium sony created as it feels like they have made a bunch.

    • @AaronOfMpls
      @AaronOfMpls Před 10 měsíci

      Oh yah. Including audiovisual media too: U-matic videocassette, Betamax videocassette, Elcaset audio tape, Compact Disc (with Philips), 3½" floppy diskette, Betacam videocassette,* Video 8 (and later Hi-8) videocassette, Digital Audio Tape, MiniDisc, NT microcassette, PlayStation memory card, DV videocassette (with Panasonic and others), DVD (with multiple other companies), Memory Stick flash memory card, MicroMV videocassette...
      Let me know if I missed any!
      * smallest-size tapes are identical to Betamax, but the signal recorded on them is completely different

  • @Papierzeit
    @Papierzeit Před 9 měsíci +2

    Nice video, well put together and then there were the 3-inch floppy disks I had used to these others in my childhood as well.

  • @the123king
    @the123king Před 10 měsíci +7

    I have a machine that takes manual shutter disks. The RCA MS2000, which i believe dates from late 1982, or early 1983.

  • @1RandomToaster
    @1RandomToaster Před 10 měsíci +2

    What I think is most impressive is that Sony can lay claim to the save icon, one of the few things to keep Keith Richards amused (alongside Twinkies and Cockroaches) after the end of days.

  • @TJDunaway
    @TJDunaway Před 3 měsíci

    I don't know how youtube kept this from me this long. You always talk about cool stuff Shelby!

  • @neildusting4114
    @neildusting4114 Před 2 měsíci

    Having spent most of the 80's & early 90's manufacturing diskettes of all sizes this was a nice blast from the past.

  • @dancingwiththedogsdj
    @dancingwiththedogsdj Před 10 měsíci +4

    Omg .. I forgot I would see "cassette" printed on the box or media quite frequently... Along with diskette... The drive mechanism in my Tandy 1000HX with a single 3 1/2" drive was so solid and satisfying. Not to mention, totally reliable over all the years. Just, clunk, read, done. Great video, just started watching... 🍻🌎❤️🎶🕺🏻💾🖥️

    • @KenjiUmino
      @KenjiUmino Před 10 měsíci +3

      Many manuals for NES, SNES etc... console games call the cartridge a cassette as well ... at least in the german translation

    • @88porpoise
      @88porpoise Před 10 měsíci +1

      They were "disc cassettes" with a hard plastic enclosure for a fragile storage medium, much like a tape cassette.

  • @DeetexSeraphine
    @DeetexSeraphine Před 9 měsíci

    Why am I not surprised to learn that, this now industry standard format was originally conceived by Sony, because they wanted their own product for a Full Stack...
    Fascinating video, regardless!

  • @DanielMReck
    @DanielMReck Před 10 měsíci

    Looking forward to that Jonos video. Thanks for your super deep dive on this!

  • @leotide1990
    @leotide1990 Před 10 měsíci +7

    My feed offered me a true crime doc I was interested in, and one of your videos.
    Immediately clicked on you without hesitation.
    Always fascinating to learn computer history from the rabbit trails you seem to find yourself on, haha. Excellent research done, can’t wait to see the Jonos!

  • @saifal-badri
    @saifal-badri Před 3 měsíci

    Amazing work, thanks for documenting all of this, enjoyed every second

  • @tomschmidt381
    @tomschmidt381 Před 10 měsíci

    Having used all three formats over the years thanks for the trip down memory lane.

  • @carlosbragatto
    @carlosbragatto Před 10 měsíci +2

    What an AWESOME video, thanks for that, thanks for correcting the "common knowledge" of the HP being the first to use it. Now if we could get hold of someone from Jonos for an interview...

  • @SimonJ57
    @SimonJ57 Před 10 měsíci +7

    I mean... Floppy disks are just Cassettes in a Circular, rather than Linear Format...

  • @BRBTechTalk
    @BRBTechTalk Před 9 měsíci +1

    Great research on this dead format. I knew Sony was a leader but never even heard of Jonos before this video. I have been buying, working on & fixing computers since the late '80s. I have seen formats come and go, however I do still have 3.5" floppies and CDs in my collection.

  • @laurentitolledo1838
    @laurentitolledo1838 Před 10 měsíci +1

    love the sound of those floppy drives when reading from/writing data to the disk...

  • @insanelydigitalvids
    @insanelydigitalvids Před 9 měsíci

    Superb research and a riveting presentation! Thanks 🙂

  • @davechisholm9670
    @davechisholm9670 Před 9 měsíci

    Fun fact for the unwary - the early 3.5" floppy media were designed and manufactured with a round-ended pill capsule shaped window in the metal shutter for the moving R/W heads to operate through to contact the magnetic surface, which was soon altered to the normal rectangular window most people would be familiar with. You can see both types of shutter window in your video.
    The trap for the unwary, is that the head clearance in later 3.5" drives expects a rectangular window in the shutter, so if an old disk with the round-ended window is inserted in a later drive, the shutter will likely foul the heads and upon eject, damage them or even rip them out of the drive!

  • @IraQNid
    @IraQNid Před 9 měsíci

    Quite a bit more history to the origins than I realized. I grew up with the 5.25 and 3.5 inch floppies. Everyone I knew called the 3.5 inch version the hard floppy disk. In school we used the 5.25 inch floppies to save our work. When I went to college they were still using the 5.25 inch floppy drives. By then I was using the 3.5 inch disks. So it made it possible to bring in my older 5.25 inch disks to backup the data to the newer standard. The iconic symbol for saving data to this day is still the 3.5 inch hard floppy disk.

  • @waynesharp1690
    @waynesharp1690 Před 10 měsíci +1

    I've got an old sharp word processor that uses a belt driven 3.5" floppy drive that uses 720k disks. The drive didn't work when I got it but I put a new belt on and it's working now.

  • @pdelong42
    @pdelong42 Před 9 měsíci

    First time here - those credits were amazing. I haven't heard that noise since I pulled an all-nighter in high-school to finish a report. I don't miss that printer one bit.

  • @WelcomeToMarkintosh
    @WelcomeToMarkintosh Před měsícem

    Wow-that was fascinating and very interesting-thank you!!

  • @roysigurdkarlsbakk3842
    @roysigurdkarlsbakk3842 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Nice! The oldest 8" floppy drive I ever saw, had a cartridge in which you could lay the floppy, that is, without the hard plastic, and close the lid and insert it. I haven't seen that again even on youtube.

    • @KenjiUmino
      @KenjiUmino Před 10 měsíci +1

      The way you describe it, I imagine it being very similar to the CD caddy that some old CD-ROM drives used.
      I have an external apple scsi CD-ROM drive that loads a caddy instead of the slide out tray that was common on PC drives.
      I have some questions tho: Did these early 8" disks come "naked" without the wobbly plastic shell ? or did the 8" always have that shell and you needed to get the disk out for THIS specific caddy loading drive?
      And once you got the wobbly disk out of its soft plastic shell - which I imagine would damage that shell for good - how do you store it after use ? In a jewel case ?

  • @mylittleparody2277
    @mylittleparody2277 Před 9 měsíci

    Very interesting and well researched video!
    Thank you!

  • @richardthunderbay8364
    @richardthunderbay8364 Před 10 měsíci

    A very interesting presentation. Thanks for posting.

  • @ReinaldoRauch
    @ReinaldoRauch Před 10 měsíci +1

    That's a great one Shelby! Thanks to helping preserve computer history o/

  • @AlejandroRodolfoMendez
    @AlejandroRodolfoMendez Před 10 měsíci

    I never expected a video about this topic but it was really interesting.

  • @Vinpupx1
    @Vinpupx1 Před 10 měsíci

    Happy to see all those floppy disks you bought finally being shown off. Great video!

  • @klaatubob
    @klaatubob Před 9 měsíci +1

    It amazes me how many people back then and still today think that disk is a "hard disk" because of the hard case.
    And today, most people think of that disc as the "save" button.

  • @mymessylab
    @mymessylab Před 10 měsíci

    What a great video! It has spread out a bright light onto a common device used by billions of people, without knowing it. The background history is fantastic. Thanks for sharing this.

  • @Qardo
    @Qardo Před 10 měsíci +7

    "90cm floppy"
    Me: Damn. That is a big floppy. But why is it so small?
    And I know he misspoke. But still, technology is amazing to fit something that big in a 9cm format, lol.

  • @kirkthejerk7258
    @kirkthejerk7258 Před 10 měsíci

    Great job on the thorough research.

  • @davidp7414
    @davidp7414 Před 10 měsíci

    Fantastic story, great work.

  • @deawpolpichai612
    @deawpolpichai612 Před 10 měsíci +1

    ย้อนรอย​ความทรงจําเลย​ครับ​ Floppy​ Disk​ เเผ่นนี้

  • @danyoutube7491
    @danyoutube7491 Před 10 měsíci +9

    @2:06 I wonder what the capacity of a 90cm disk would have been :)

  • @electrolyticmaster8396
    @electrolyticmaster8396 Před 9 měsíci

    I have a boatload of 3.5" disks from days gone by. I have a USB external floppy drive as well as an internal drive on another PC. I also have a PC with two 3.5's that I used for duplicating copy protected disks. It has a Copy II PC hardware board. Surprisingly, disks that have been in cold storage for 20+ years still work. Just for giggles, I installed a late 90's copy of Quattro Pro Spreadsheet software from four 3.5's. It runs perfectly!

  • @marais75012
    @marais75012 Před 9 měsíci

    Admirable research!

  • @semuhphor
    @semuhphor Před 9 měsíci

    Hi Shelby. I just found your channel, and I'm very impressed. Watch much of the first disk imaging video and .. well .. wow. Cool! I've been doing computer stuff since 1971 and it's a joy to discover a place that is just a treasure trove of information. Thanks.

  • @Zyhorn
    @Zyhorn Před 10 měsíci

    Great video, as always!

  • @mp-zf4ur
    @mp-zf4ur Před 10 měsíci

    Great rundown, thanks!

  • @merijnification
    @merijnification Před 9 měsíci

    Nice educational video! Well done. I enjoyed it

  • @Petertronic
    @Petertronic Před 10 měsíci

    Brilliant research! I've enjoyed seeing you work on the Jonos computer on the livestreams, can't wait for a video on it.

  • @pakatvideos
    @pakatvideos Před 10 měsíci

    the research done was so extensive & it shows.

  • @GaugePlays1980
    @GaugePlays1980 Před 10 měsíci

    I love it. Both informative and enthusiastic. As always thanks for the content!

  • @NonNewtonianAnything
    @NonNewtonianAnything Před 9 měsíci

    Great video, well done!

  • @retrohaxblog
    @retrohaxblog Před 10 měsíci

    Awesome video sir ... as usual!

  • @deepsleep7822
    @deepsleep7822 Před 10 měsíci

    I miss Byte magazine. Ending credits: the sweet sound of the dot-matrix impact printer.
    Good job on the vid. I lived through the 3.5” era. Used 8” disks at work (we had IBM equipment).

  • @Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P
    @Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P Před 10 měsíci

    Fantastic video well researched and put together, I didn't know about the Jonos system and very much looking forward to that video.

  • @stevenclark2188
    @stevenclark2188 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Also explains how Amstrad got ahold of a bunch of 3inch drives for cheap enough to put in the CPC.

  • @GeorgesChannel
    @GeorgesChannel Před 10 měsíci +1

    Great video! Never head of Jonos and i also believed that Sony computer was the first computer with a 3.5 Floppy drive..:)

  • @cybermunk13
    @cybermunk13 Před 7 měsíci

    This kind of videos am AWSOME.
    I LOV LOVE LOVE IT

  • @lorensims4846
    @lorensims4846 Před 9 měsíci

    I first got seriously interested in personal computers in 1980, with subscriptions to Creative Computing, Byte and Infoworld. I closely followed the attempts to introduce the 3.5" "floppy."
    To my mind, it was the Macintosh that really settled the small disc standard.
    My wife called these "cookies, " and many of my friends who had worked with 8" and 5.25" floppies referred to these as "firmies."
    Mostly we all settled on the term "diskette."
    Those 8" floppies were truly floppy. The 5.25" ones were less so.
    I miss the diskettes.
    I still have a bunch of Zip disks and drives in the garage.
    Yeah, USB drives put an end to all of that, and software distributed on CD did as well.
    I do credit the iMac for first popularizing USB. Also, the Mac made CDs easy.

  • @IBM_Museum
    @IBM_Museum Před 10 měsíci

    Cool hat! - from the IBM Logo Store.

  • @TexasExotic
    @TexasExotic Před 9 měsíci

    Phenomenal research and awesome work!

  • @twinshobbytwinshobby3863
    @twinshobbytwinshobby3863 Před 10 měsíci

    Awesome to watch ! Thank you

  • @user-is1rr6vx5c
    @user-is1rr6vx5c Před 10 měsíci

    I'd love to hear more about Jonos Ltd. Interesting Video as always.

  • @michaelhawthorne8696
    @michaelhawthorne8696 Před 9 měsíci

    I remember back in 1984 (I think) I had a BBC Electron with the Plus 1 add on (Joy stick and ROM interface). Then I bought the Plus 2 add on (3.5" Floppy Disk Drive). It was amazing to see how fast it loaded either games or basic programs I saved to disk (compared to tape).
    The Plus 1 was £60
    The Plus 2 was £199
    The BBC Electron was £199
    Connecting them all together (3 boxes) was easy and so solid with big bolts to secure everything....not the ridiculous "Blue Tack" offer to secure the ZX81 RAM Pack from Sir Clive Sinclair.
    When assembled, the machine looked awesome, I would have one today, just to drool over.
    The disk drive, I think was single sided single density... 180K ?...really not sure now but to watch it defrag using video RAM was quite satisfying.... the screen would fill with what looked like white noise but was pixels representing the individual bits stored on the disk....
    I'm 60 now so I was around 21 when I had this..... them were the days.
    Great research by the way, this took me right back to the good ol' days
    Ending with what looked like an Epsom FX80 printer....the go to printer of the early eighties.
    Subbed and liked !

  • @jasper265
    @jasper265 Před 2 měsíci

    In Dutch, the name "diskette" stuck for these. And honestly, that makes a whole lot more sense than calling both the hard and the floppy ones floppy disks...

  • @esra_erimez
    @esra_erimez Před 10 měsíci

    Great documentary! I'm going to rewatch it with my dad. Thank you so much!

  • @SB-bt8um
    @SB-bt8um Před 9 měsíci

    Very good and exceptional.

  • @erikmerchant567
    @erikmerchant567 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Great video on an obscure topic. Well done!

  • @AB-Prince
    @AB-Prince Před 10 měsíci +4

    I always wondered why 3½" bays had space for 2 when there was only one slot. I never knew the original drive was twice as tall. though as to why it remained this way all the way to the death of floppies flaws me though.

    • @LynxSnowCat
      @LynxSnowCat Před 10 měsíci +1

      I vaguely recall that while laptop (19 then 12mm tall?) drives were a common format, cheaper PC drives only had a taller face plate to fill the gap. I was slightly annoyed that they never made double-drives that fit in a 'normal' 3.5" drive bay so that I could use the other one for another hard disc.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 9 měsíci +1

      Do you mean to say that you would look inside a case, see an external 3.5" drive faceplate, and then there was more room below that in the drive cage? That wasn't for a double-height / full-height 3.5" drive. That additional space was meant for a hard drive.
      Hard drive mounting was a bit of a mixed bag. Most cases had space for a HDD right there below the 3.5" drive. For some, that was the only HDD bay. Others had an additional bay somewhere else. For example, I have an AT case with a Cyrix 6x86 (Pentium-era) system installed in it. There's a hard drive sled that slides in right under the power supply, allowing you to install two hard drives (the other being under the floppy drive.) But with some motherboards, that bay can foul with the CPU fan, so you have to remove the tray and use the space under the floppy drive instead. An old Gateway full tower had room above the optical drive bays, under the PSU in a 3-drive enclosure, and under the floppy drive.
      AFAIK, there was never a PC case that was designed to fit those tall Sony drives. The first time anyone ever saw a 3.5" disk on a PC was in the PS/2 line, shown at 4:02. And I don't think I've ever seen a non-PS/2 case that those drives would fit in. (Particularly because they require a separate faceplate, unlike the standard half-height drives everyone used shortly after.)

    • @LynxSnowCat
      @LynxSnowCat Před 9 měsíci

      @@nickwallette6201 (edit) -No. Behind and below are different words for a rason.-
      From 2005 onwards I often encountered various makes of 3.5" _desktop_ drives for desktops that were roughly half the height of previous 3.5 drives which were mechanically interchangeable with the 3.5 _laptop_ drives used by Compaq, and others, with the exception of the cosmetic plastic face/bezel.
      (because these shared the mounting pattern) these had a void space above the drive, behind the 'normal' 3.5" drive sized face.
      Also; My father was an early adopter.
      We had an XT/AT suitcase-chassis that could have mounted two of the the 'original' sized 3.5" size drives one over the other.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@LynxSnowCat In communication, nuance is certainly a thing. But so is tact. 😒
      Not everyone here has a flawless grasp on the language, so, in deciphering what someone is trying to say, it’s not always productive to take their word choices too literally. Sometimes the word they used is merely the word they know.
      Sorry to have wasted your time.
      EDIT: Actually, I wasn’t even replying to you. I was asking the OP. (Just noticed this - on mobile.)

    • @LynxSnowCat
      @LynxSnowCat Před 9 měsíci

      @@nickwallette6201 I apologise for having missed that your reply wasn't specifically directed at me.
      What you've said is absolutely relevant, correct, and _not a repudiation_ of what I've said.
      I do recognise that there is no 'perfect' language, and have argued that language belongs to those who use it _more_ than who then try to steal meaning from what is said.
      -_in person_, I'm constantly being painfully reminded that I need to be absolutely tactless when what I've said is different that what has been interpreted; And the existence of those very short floppy drives (and the interoperability of some laptop and desktop parts) is one of those things that some 'professionals' have repeatedly physically fought me over because [of their public] 'loss of face' and humiliation --
      [edits: redaction]- [edit 2: strike-through, distraction]
      -(but)- [I need to remember] this is online, where I _need not_ be so sensitive to [how my words are interpreted]; Much less concern myself with whom those words are attributed when a _more_ careful reading (( _than I've demonstrated_ )) can prove that far more easily, than getting an audience to recognize when someone else says something .
      [edits: incomplete redactions, oblique/obtuse result.]

  • @8bitghostnuts
    @8bitghostnuts Před 10 měsíci +2

    Just stellar, thanks for the history lesson ✨

  • @minombredepila1580
    @minombredepila1580 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Amazing investigation. Love it !!!!

  • @hicknopunk
    @hicknopunk Před 10 měsíci +2

    Do analog music on the 3.5" next ❤

  • @Thomill
    @Thomill Před 10 měsíci +1

    Thanks!

  • @GameRetro
    @GameRetro Před 10 měsíci

    This video and the amount of information in it IS OUTSTANDING! GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT!!!

  • @MarianoLu
    @MarianoLu Před 10 měsíci

    16:15 There were such a synonymous of small files that even to this day the save icon is a 3.5 in floppy

  • @cliftonchurch6039
    @cliftonchurch6039 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Every time I see your shelves, my eyes are drawn to the You Don't Know Jack 5th Dementia box. It's the only YDKJ game not available in Jackbox Games' YDKJ Classic Pack on Steam, and was the only one from the early generation that had online play, which is likely the reason it's not included in the Classic Pack. It's also the only one I properly owned before getting the classic pack on Steam. It's a great version, and its scoring system is what built the framework for the modern YDKJ games in the Party Packs that revitalized the company.

  • @admiralandersen
    @admiralandersen Před 9 měsíci

    This is a very interesting video. Thank you so much for thinking of it and making it. 😃 I have 5,25 for my Commodore SX 64 and 3,5 for my IBM ThinkPads. But also the iomega clik! Pocket Zip for the ThinkPads. I enjoy that specific storage medium a lot 😃