Does anyone miss...

[Harrison]

I'm currently loving using a Kryoflux to archive loads of floppy disks because it is chugging away reading the disks and it brings back so many memories from years ago, sitting around an A500+ copying loads of the latest releases with friends using XCopy Pro.

[J T]

I'm pretty sure that I've said it here before, but things in chunky(ish) caddy style housings are just so much more pleasing to behold. You can handle them any way you like (unlike CDs) have them loose in a bag or storage compartment, pile them up on the desk - and of course the lovely positive tactile feeling of pushing it into the slot and hearing the mechanical parts engage. Dropping a disc in a tray just doesn't have that same feel to it.

I'm particularly fond of minidiscs for that reason, plus at the time they felt so modern (not that I'd ever want to use them now). I guess the closest approximation for me nowadays are the CF cards we use in our camera, cos they're a bit chunkier than an SD and click into place nicely.

[Harrison]

Totally agree. CDs/DVDs/BD etc are all without a case for the obvious reason that it saves a lot of manufacturing costs. But I would have loved to see DVD and BD in a casing with a shutter for much better protection and longevity. It was however initially the case with DVD-RAM and their cases would have worked just as well for all other 12cm discs. They used to come in pleasingly chunky cases that reminded me of an oversized SyQuest cartridge (remember those?).

I also used to love Zip Disks when they were all the rage at the end of the 90's. They seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere and become an overnight success. Everyone was using them and it was a really easy way to save work and transport it. Obviously the USB drive was completely superseded all such removable rewritable media now and is really affordable, but it just isn't the same is it. It doesn't have any moving parts or tactile feeling when you connect them to the computer.

However I've still got loads of Zip Disks and a few Zip drives because of the Nintendo 64 Mr Backup I own, which uses them to load roms into memory to play them on the N64. Great backup system and more versatile than CD.

[woody.cool]

I'm pretty sure that I've said it here before, but things in chunky(ish) caddy style housings are just so much more pleasing to behold. You can handle them any way you like (unlike CDs) have them loose in a bag or storage compartment, pile them up on the desk - and of course the lovely positive tactile feeling of pushing it into the slot and hearing the mechanical parts engage. Dropping a disc in a tray just doesn't have that same feel to it.

You cannot beat the sound of a floppy being inserted into DF0: on an A500 - that loud (ish) CLUNK is so nostalgic

I'm particularly fond of minidiscs for that reason, plus at the time they felt so modern (not that I'd ever want to use them now). I guess the closest approximation for me nowadays are the CF cards we use in our camera, cos they're a bit chunkier than an SD and click into place nicely.

I've always been convinced that MiniDisc was the media of the gods! It was just so reliable and so versatile (as an audio format)

(not that I'd ever want to use them now)

Why not? I still use MiniDisc (I have 2 MiniDisc recorders and 3 MiniDisc Hi-Fi Seperates)

[Harrison]

A lot of Sony's storage developments over the years have been well designed, reliable and robust. It was always just such a shame most never took off outside of their own products. They did finally get it right with Blu-Ray though.

[J T]

(not that I'd ever want to use them now)

Why not? I still use MiniDisc (I have 2 MiniDisc recorders and 3 MiniDisc Hi-Fi Seperates)

I came quite late to the MD party. I had a great little portable MD Player-recorder that was only a little bigger than the disc itself, but having to record in real-time just as MP3 players were starting to take off was real weaksauce. Now I've just got too used to the convenience and capacity of more modern devices (I know there was the net-MD thing, or whatever it was, but that didn't really register much).

I've long since binned my big audio stuff (separates, an AV amp and floorstanders). One day I'll get something nice and dedicated just for music.

[Harrison]

Anything stored as data files that can be copied to a device at the maximum speed of the connection is always going to win in the end compared to a linear recording method like tape or disk. I still like MiniDV for video recording if only needing SD quality, but it is still quite inconvenient compared to current memory card and HD video systems that store everything as files. No need to transfer video before editing, just stick the card in or copy over the video files and it is all there in original quality ready to be edited.

And this is also true for floppy disks. Copying an original disk means needing to copy the whole disk sector by sector and track by track from start to finish. Convert it into an ADF or other sector image and you suddenly have a very portable disk images that takes less than a second to move around, copy or send. It is also why floppy drive emulators are of interest these days to completely replace the original drives in the Amiga (and other retro systems) with a memory card reader that can access any sector image and then load it to emulate and trick the host system that it is really loading a real floppy disk. Amazing innovation, but as we are discussing here, it completely loses the tactile nature of floppy disks, the noise of the loading, the click and feel as the disk is put into the drive... definitely not the same, but definitely more reliable and data secure. So many floppy disks are now starting to degrade and generate sector read errors, or even worse completely dead sectors that can't be read at all.

[Menace]

....the feeling and sound of handling and using Floppy disks?

The smell of a new Floppy, the sliding metal cover, the read/write tab. Peeling fresh labels, writing them out and ordering your disk collection.

The sound it made as you slotted it home into the Amiga. The sensation of pushing the disk into the drive with a single finger. The disk loading sounds...

Ok, it sounds like retro porn I admit, but it's true.

It just occurred to me now I really miss Floppy media. I don't feel the same about Tapes or Carts and CD/DVD/Flash disks just feel cold - they have no character. Installing things from Floppy to a hard drive felt great too.

Sure Floppies were slow, but they felt better somehow. Yes, I'm having a nostalgia morning.....

Er...no. Way to many moving parts to be honest..a little too electromechanical.
I agree floppys have character but the sliding metal cover overtime would either fail (spring) or open `V` away from either side of the floppy so if you did push it in it would get stuck inside the drive.Again the labels were okay but i had a few floppys were the label had come away from the disc when pushed inside and i had to open the Amiga and remove the top metal case to the drive to save it.I understand and mostly agree that most modern format feels cold and bland but it is more safe,convenient and reliable if you look after it-this is proven from a collecting view point as many floppys may not of faired too well over the years but the more recent `cold` formats will still be exchanging hands for the next 100 yrs

[woody.cool]

I agree floppys have character but the sliding metal cover overtime would either fail (spring) or open `V` away from either side of the floppy so if you did push it in it would get stuck inside the drive

I had both of these happen numerous times with my A500+ .... I remember dismantelling the floppy drive to get a metal shutter out plenty of times.

[Bloodwych]

I never had any issues with floppies falling apart. Not even with my original Bloodwych disk, which took some serious abuse. Must have been lucky!