Harrison
16th June 2008, 20:04
Who was/is a fan of the Zip disk?
I used to be a big fan of this disk format. In the late 90's the format was really popular, with it being very popular in design circles with all design agencies using them, along with universities and colleges.
I used them at university to carry my interactive multimedia projects to and from home, as well as stuff I downloaded from the uni internet connection. The Zip disk was pretty much a universal format.
And at home I bought a SCSI Zip drive which I had connected to my A4000, and also to my PC once I bought a new one in 1998. It was a very useful drive on the Amiga as the 100MB disks were quite a large size for Amiga storage so great for backing up the Amiga's HD, as well as for general file storage.
And later I also found another use for Zip Disks. The Mr. Backup (Z64) for the Nintendo 64 console. With a built in IDE Zip Drive you could load game rom images directly on the N64 using Zip disks. So this was great as I could just copy the games to a disk and load them up.
Sadly the Zip disk format is now all but dead. Iomega tried to keep it going with larger disk formats, but none of them really took off as most people had a few 100MB disks and for larger storage CD-R was quickly becoming affordable enough to replace it.
However as a storage format I still prefer Zip Disks over writeable CDs. Why? Zip disks are in robust case and last a long time. As well as working like proper removable storage that can be reused just like the older floppy disk. In comparison CD and the optical media isn't in a protective case and can easily be scratched and damaged. And the lifespan of an optical disc is never that great in reality for a disc that gets used.
Why am I posting about Zip Disks? I was just going through some of my stuff, and in my middle desk draw I've still got all of my Zip Disks lined up. Most of them these days have N64 roms on for use with my Z64, but some still have some university and design work on them that I must have a look though.
As for accessing them. I've long since stopped using SCSI on my PCs as the format is obsolete for all but high end servers. I therefore managed to get hold of a USB Zip drive that is quite a late rare model as it is powered via the USB port so doesn't need an external PSU like most zip drives did. And the SCSI Zip drive is still in use connected to my A4000. :) Although I've not accessed a zip disk on the Amiga in some time.
I do wish there was a current storage format in common use that used cases like the Zip disks. Would be much nicer than using CD/DVD-R. Although I suppose you could argue that we now have memory sticks and fast internet connections.
I used to be a big fan of this disk format. In the late 90's the format was really popular, with it being very popular in design circles with all design agencies using them, along with universities and colleges.
I used them at university to carry my interactive multimedia projects to and from home, as well as stuff I downloaded from the uni internet connection. The Zip disk was pretty much a universal format.
And at home I bought a SCSI Zip drive which I had connected to my A4000, and also to my PC once I bought a new one in 1998. It was a very useful drive on the Amiga as the 100MB disks were quite a large size for Amiga storage so great for backing up the Amiga's HD, as well as for general file storage.
And later I also found another use for Zip Disks. The Mr. Backup (Z64) for the Nintendo 64 console. With a built in IDE Zip Drive you could load game rom images directly on the N64 using Zip disks. So this was great as I could just copy the games to a disk and load them up.
Sadly the Zip disk format is now all but dead. Iomega tried to keep it going with larger disk formats, but none of them really took off as most people had a few 100MB disks and for larger storage CD-R was quickly becoming affordable enough to replace it.
However as a storage format I still prefer Zip Disks over writeable CDs. Why? Zip disks are in robust case and last a long time. As well as working like proper removable storage that can be reused just like the older floppy disk. In comparison CD and the optical media isn't in a protective case and can easily be scratched and damaged. And the lifespan of an optical disc is never that great in reality for a disc that gets used.
Why am I posting about Zip Disks? I was just going through some of my stuff, and in my middle desk draw I've still got all of my Zip Disks lined up. Most of them these days have N64 roms on for use with my Z64, but some still have some university and design work on them that I must have a look though.
As for accessing them. I've long since stopped using SCSI on my PCs as the format is obsolete for all but high end servers. I therefore managed to get hold of a USB Zip drive that is quite a late rare model as it is powered via the USB port so doesn't need an external PSU like most zip drives did. And the SCSI Zip drive is still in use connected to my A4000. :) Although I've not accessed a zip disk on the Amiga in some time.
I do wish there was a current storage format in common use that used cases like the Zip disks. Would be much nicer than using CD/DVD-R. Although I suppose you could argue that we now have memory sticks and fast internet connections.