Whatever Happened to the 5.25 Inch Floppy Disk Format? (An Overview of its Beginning and End)

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Oops, the 1.2MB 5"ers are HD, not DD.

[@ronsmith6041]

Really enjoyed that step back in time. Amazing how far technology has come, when you can buy a 16GB usb stick for 15 bucks today. You need to give us a tour of your big box game collection, looks impressive. Keep up the great content.

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Glad you enjoyed it, it was fun to research too. My PC game collection isnt too bad at the minute, not the biggest or most valuable but I do have a few good items that hold memories for me. Prices have gone a little banana's this year though so have slowed down collecting them specifically. Half of my games are in storage, if I get more shelving set up in the future I might do a little tour - but if theres anything you want to see in particular just shout out and maybe I will be able to make something. Cheers!

[@RickTheGeek]

I miss the days of 5.25 disks! I remember reading about 3.5 disks that held 720 k and thinking I’d never need that much storage space!😊

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

I find that my 5.25 disks tend to still work but have a higher failure rate with 3.5's usually :(

[@chemical6910]

Why is the disk diameter 5.25 inch for all types of disks??

[@danielgallant9794]

with retro-computing, as old new stock get depleted, I could see demand making it possible for a niche market in manufacturing floppys... just like there is a market for cassettes now. the old drive are also very durable and repairable. I agree, the feel and the noise of the drives add to the computing experience. using older computers feel more like using a "machine", rather than an appliance like today. nevermind the games, but many of us do stuf fthat go still go well on a floppy (writing text, doing spreadsheet, writing programs, etc..). the only frustration is getting the @bad sectors@ on the disk... ie., if only they coul dbe less fragile.

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

The drives themselves are already quite expensive (ebay rates for them in Australia typically around the $70-$90 mark!) so yes, it is already quite niche. Boxed PC games with floppy's tend to also be more expensive than CD equivalents from a collectors point of view. It will be interesting to see if a market does spring up around creating new floppy's similar to cassettes and vinyl records as you say. The media is fragile indeed though - in my Amiga 500 I just got a gotek floppy emulator and although it has orders of magnitude less charm, it is by far much easier to get software loaded and games playing :D

[@danielgallant9794]

@@ByteSizeThoughts indeed, i've seen almost 200$ for mitsubishi 640k drives. maybe we are even starting to see people doing price inflation, a sign that more and more people are looking for them. Now, if we could just stop people from throwing computer electronics in the trash when they don't work, allowing us to buy for parts.

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

@@danielgallant9794 Hah - yes indeed. I think ewaste and scrappers see a lot of this gear but dont have the time to strip parts and resell. The 5 1/2 drives are getting somewhat uncommon (not rare just yet) so the prices are creeping up. Thats why I've waited over a year before getting mine for $20AUD.

[@martyjoseph9507]

I clearly remember taking high school computer class on the Apple and the first year teacher boasting about how we're all going to use this fancy new 5.25" disk that blows away the old style. We spent the first day just looking at it without placing it in the computer.

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

That's a great memory, thanks for sharing Marty! My high school classes in the UK centred around RM Nimbus computers which were popular with schools back in the 90s

[@LoftBits]

5:15 yes, my own adventure with floppies started with 1.2MB ones - but a slight correction is needed here: 1.2MB were DSHD, not DSDD. I remember buying DSDDs for cheap (HDs were initially comparably expensive) and, despite their designated capacity of 360k, formatting them to 800k in a 1.2MB drive, using utilities like "800" "fdread/fdformat". About 30 years later, the penny dropped: all my 360ks were fine, but as for 800s - ony about 25% of them could still be read. Not surprisingly, better brands like Verbatim, 3M or BASF are fine, the no name ones just lost their spirit and their magnetic layer tan... Fortunately, I'd made backups on other media years before ;-).

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Thank you for the message and the gentle correction :) My first experience with 5 1/4 discs were via my C64 so only really games. I didn't have to use them for important data back ups. When at school and university I used 3.5, super discs and eventually writable CD's. Its amazing how things have progressed - a 2TB micro SD card has just been launched - unbelievable stuff!

[@LoftBits]

@@ByteSizeThoughts I went through Amstrads in my youth (CPC as well as PCW), so was quite used to their obscure 3 inch disks (wouldn't call them 'floppies', they were built like tanks)! Thanks to Amstrad and Schneider they became fairly popular in Europe and had main presence in Japan. I remember people wondering which format (3 or 3.5) would prevail - like VHS/Betamax wars :-) . Then I got my PC (286) with both the 5.25" 1.2MB and the 3.5 in 1.44MB - a 'safe' double configuration in 1990. And then the 'cheating' with formatting DDs as HDs began 😉

[@tharkthax3960]

Great vid. I still use Atari 1050 floppy drives. I keep them well serviced and store my floppies well. Most of the time it's great. Get the odd dodgy disk, but cleaning normally fox it. I'm a total retro buff, enjoy these videos. Thanks 👍

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Thanks for sharing! I find the 5.25 disks of mine hold up way better than the 3.5's! Thanks for watching, I love the old hardware, its a good hobby to have at the moment with all these lockdowns

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

"Also... too"? "Also... as well"? OOPS!

[@elinars5638]

Bring back the 5.25 floppy disk! I guess I have to be joking but there is a part of it that's serious.

[@gabrieliligan1416]

Back when kilo bytes speaks volumes!

[@dmsammy7051]

Great video!

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed capturing all the footage with my old PC as part of making it! :)

[@fenchurchmarie5224]

1.2 mb were double sided HIGH density 360k drives were double sided single density And you totally skipped the 720/800k double sided 3.5" floppies

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Correct yes - this video definitely could do with a refresh with some of those errors that slipped through. Thanks for taking the time to comment (and watch)! Can you believe that some of these disks are 30 - 40 years old at this point? Even more astounding is that you can get SD cards up to a Terra-byte in size :)

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

" 'Truly floppy' floppy disk"? Oops, I hate it when people make this erroneous comparison. 3.5" disks ARE truly floppy. The "floppy" terminology for disks _isn't about_ the jacket's flexibility; it was and will always be about the DISK -- the actual *media!*

[@MisterRorschach90]

Wang

[@ByteSizeThoughts]

Wang was big

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

What about it?

[@r.a.6459]

In my language it means cash.