Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!mintaka!ai-lab!life.ai.mit.edu!petrilli From: petrilli@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Chris Petrilli) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: 20 Meg Floppies Message-ID: Date: 7 May 91 23:55:55 GMT References: <1991May3.172155.10286@cs.mcgill.ca> <1991May6.185938.20026@cs.UAlberta.CA> Sender: news@ai.mit.edu Organization: Free Software Foundation Lines: 50 In-reply-to: sherwood@space.ualberta.ca's message of 6 May 91 18:59:38 GMT In article <1991May6.185938.20026@cs.UAlberta.CA> sherwood@space.ualberta.ca (Sherwood Botsford) writes: Yeo-Hoon BAE writes > > But there's one thing that concerns about these 20meg floppies... > Each disks must be factory formatted, which means any disk that > gets damaged during use will be useless unless sent back to the > factory - not very convenient. > > Other than this point, I really like the drives(technically) > Nah. Back in the bad old days when CP/M ruled (Did I hear a shudder out there?) and ordinary floppy disks cost 5 bucks each (About 2 hours minimum wage for you young whippersnappers) the quality was abysmal. Soon however a raft of sector testing programs appeared. You ran the program on a disk; all bad sectors were added to a hidden file. Seems to me that similar action could be done with these critters. Perhaps, but I do believe that this is a step backwards. I was around and using CP/M machines in their "hay day", which was the late 70s and early 80s, and believe me that though this was a way to do it, many of us went to systems that could format thier own disks, and run decent floppies (like a CompuPro). When 8" floppies ruled, the quality wasn't that bad, I usually only got (and even still only get) a few bad floppies (any errors constitute a bad floppy) out of a hundered. I don't think that 20Mb floppies are teh wave of the future, in fact I don't think that floppies period are going to last too much longer (5 years laybe), as the price of CD-ROM drives are coming down, and, in my humble opinion, that is where software distribution will and should move. With the cost of a CD-ROM only about $1 for the manufacturer, floppies can't compete, and with the increasing size of programs (X11 consumes 60Mb), CD-ROMS will be the only way to realistically distribute any software. Floppies in my opinion, will be relagated to humble uses, such as backing up a couple files, and transfering small amounts of data. Magneto-optical systems will become the BIG transfer medium, and tape will remain as the backup method of choice. PS: Ever wonder how much you could store on an 8" floppy if you used the new barrium-ferrite coating.... now that's progress. Chris Petrilli -- + Chris Petrilli | Internet: petrilli@gnu.ai.mit.edu + Insert silly disclaimer drivel here.