On 14 Apr 2005, at 10:39, GATLEY David A wrote:
>
> 1) if they are drives capable of reading 5.25" floppy disks (we all
> used
> ten years ago)
It is not correct to say that we all used 5.25" drives 10 years ago.
I bought my first computer (an Apricot) in 1985: it had built-in drives
for standard 3.5" floppy disks and it ran MS/DOS. I soon realized that
an Apple Mac would be better so in 1987 I bought an Apple - also using
3.5" floppies. The dealer was able to transfer all my text files from
the Apricot into the Apple. Since then I've continued to use Apple Mac.
My recollection is that by 1995 most users had abandoned floppies and
were backing up on the much more capacious ("Syquest" and "Iomega")
zip drives which held about 100MB when introduced.
I wonder when the astonishing history of the growth of computer use in
the 1980s and 1990s will be properly recorded. Perhaps not until 2080!
Brian Read
|