Apple iMac (1998) got rid of old format disk drives

[zakiyatasnim]

Interface design often uses skeuomorphism, which is the realistic depiction of objects. For example, gears represent the inner workings (settings) of a computer, a SLR camera represents a camera app, and an image of an old phone represents a call button or app icons for a phone. The youngest users may not know what a floppy disk is, but they understand what it means.

The end of floppy disks
After the advent of the CD drive in the 1980s, its mass distribution in the 1990s, and competition from zip disks, CD-Rs, USB sticks, and other formats, the fate of the 1.44 MB floppy disk seemed certain. However, the format was in use longer than anyone expected. Until the mid-2000s, computers supported floppy disks, as BIOS updates and peripheral drivers were traditionally delivered on this medium.

In 1998, Apple released the iMac, which for the first time in Macintosh history did not have a floppy drive. At the time, Apple assumed that files would be transferred over local networks, CD-ROMs, and the greece number data Internet. To a large extent, it was right. By freeing itself from floppy-based BIOS updates, the Mac was free to break its ties with the outdated format before other manufacturers.



By the late 2000s, some users were still exchanging files on floppy disks, but they had already been phased out commercially. In 2010, Sony announced that it would cease production of floppy disks in March 2011 due to declining demand. Today, as far as is known, their production has been discontinued, but they are still in demand.

As recently as 2019, some US nuclear weapons systems were still using 8-inch floppy disks. But they have recently been transitioned to newer hardware.
In August 2020, The Register reported that Boeing 747 aircraft are still receiving critical software updates on 3.5-inch floppy disks.
The reason is that it is a reliable and well-known technology used in critical systems. It is impossible to make changes to them without creating a potential threat to life.

Today, many vintage computer enthusiasts still use floppy disks for fun. But if you still have important data on floppy disks, it's probably best to back them up to a more modern format (not even CD-R). Old floppy disks can lose data over time due to external factors or demagnetization of the disk surface.

In any case, 50 years after the floppy disk was invented, it's amazing that the technology is still with us. It's a great success, and IBM can rightly be proud of the invention of this medium.