Re: First Floppy Disk?

[Rich Hare <rhare@mich.com>]

I remember the early ads for it:
    "Be Happy... Go Floppy"
(Its TRUE!)


Charles J. Sarchet wrote:
> 
> >"Nick Blesch" <bleschnr@rose-hulman.edu> wrote:
> >
> >>Who invented the floppy disk?  I'm quite sure that it wasn't Apple, but
> who
> >>was it?  Thanks!
> 
> This is from a bunch of stuff I have archived from various sources.  I think
> I got this off the Miningco.com site.
> 
> - Chuck :-)
> 
> In 1971, IBM introduced the first "memory disk" as it was called then or the
> " floppy disk" as it is known today. The first floppy was an 8" plastic disk
> coated with magnetic iron oxide, data was written to and read from the
> disk's surface. The nickname "floppy" came from it's flexibility, you could
> bend it. The "floppy disk" was considered a revolutionary device at the time
> for it's portability, that provided a new and easy physical means of
> transporting data from computer to computer.
> 
> The "floppy" was invented by IBM engineers, led by Alan Shugart. The first
> disks were designed for loading microcode into the controller of the
> "Merlin" (IBM 3330) disk pack file (a 100 MB storage device), so in effect
> the first floppies were used to fill another type of data storage device.
> Overnight, additional uses for the "floppy" occurred, making it "the new"
> program and file storage medium.
> 
> How does a "floppy" work: it is a circle of magnetic material similar to any
> kind of recording tape, one or two sides of the disk are used for recording.
> The "disk drive" grabs the floppy by its' center and spins it like a record
> inside its' housing. The read/write head (again, much like what we refer to
> as the head on a tape deck) contacts the surface through an opening in the
> plastic shell or envelope. The Shugart "floppy" held 100 KBs of data.
> 
> In 1976, the 5 1/4" flexible disk drive and diskette was developed by Alan
> Shugart for Wang Laboratories, Wang wanted a smaller "floppy disk" and drive
> to use with their desktop computers. By 1978, more than 10 manufacturers
> were producing 5 1/4" floppy drives.
> 
> In 1981, Sony introduced the first 3 1/2" floppy drives and diskettes, which
> is the "floppy" familiar to today's computer user.