A couple of days back, I came across a bunch of floppy disks hidden deep in my desk drawer. I was curious to find out what’s in it and ordered a drive – ridiculous price; maybe it’s the demand (lack of it).
Anyway, I got swept away in nostalgia and started comparing the floppy disks of the 80’s and 90’s with the SD cards that are commonly used now. Objects that seem to have a distinct personality of their own have always been fascinating to me. So, when I started comparing the floppy disks and SD cards, invariably I had a preference for the former. Why, I wonder?
Floppy disks had such a distinctive look; square plastic cases with the top portion of the brushed steel. Though they were mostly black, they were found in different colours. SD cards, in comparison are such tiny, inconspicuous objects! They all look the same.
Floppy disks were temperamental as if they valued their distinct identity over anything else. On some days, they wouldn’t work well, as though they were thinking, “I just don’t feel like giving data to this guy today”. On other days, they worked brilliantly, as if they were saying, “I had a great start to my day and am feeling really good, so let me give everybody the information that they want from me today.” SD cards, on the other hand, are so ‘mundanely’ reliable. They’re fast and can store tons of data as compared to floppy disks. Ask them for data and they quickly give it to you, without too much fuss. So boring, no thrill or excitement of guessing what the outcome of your request will be!
If you have had cherished working with the quirky floppy disks and have nostalgic memories of your own, it should have brought about a smile on your face by now!
Cheers!!
