Floppy Disks
whilst the rise of the MP3 might have solidified the
cassette tape's place in the retro format charts the
floppy disk sits somewhere on the border at present.
for many, the format is dead but others seem to have
found a certain charm in its low-storage capacity
and iconic look.
A brief history
30 years ago 100KB disks were the most effective
means of transferring data between computers.
invented by IBM's alan shugart in 1971, floppies
are made up of a 'floppy' magnetic storage disk
encased in a plastic square or rectangular outer shell.
over the years its size was reduced by more than half
with the 8" version being replaced by the 5.25" and
the 3.5" surpassing that. from the mid 1970s to the
late 1990s the format remained popular until the
introduction of flash and optical storage devices
such as CD-Rs and USB sticks.
one of the first notable instances of the formats
wane came when apple decided to remove floppy disk
drives from their iMac in 1998, a move which would
soon be followed over the next few years by other
computer manufacturers. in 2007 retailers began to
that they would not stock floppy disks
anymore, though this didn't mean the end...
Recent resurgence
in the last few years more and more instances of
the floppy have been spotted online, in galleries
and our streets and roads! musicians and
media-alchemists have also warmed to the re-use
of them for 'anti-corporate' releases.
Art and design
one of the first instances of the floppy disk aesthetic
being used in the music world came via new order's
1983 single 'blue monday'. peter saville's die-cut record
sleeve is said to have cost so much to produce that
factory records actually lost money on each copy
sold - hence the sleeve was soon replaced by a
similar non-die-cut design. the lavish nature of this
piece is somewhat removed from what we see
happening with floppy creations today.
numerous 'street artists' blaze their designs across old
floppies which are then randomly glued or strategically
placed around various public places.
other crafty artists prefer to keep their work indoors such
as the american george w. hart, who's 'disk
combobulation' features thirty 3.5 inch floppy disks.
each of them are slotted into each other forming a precise
five-color pattern. fellow floppy enthusiast, lara weigand also
tried her hand at working with the plastic diskettes, this year
she decided to cover her car in them as part of the
seattle art car blowout.
the huge amount of redundant floppies have found
their way into the hands of aspiring designers and
hobbyists. online you can find, dresses, bags, notebooks
and other office novelties conjured up from them.
for instance, at
instructables. 'geekgear' is also at it, they create basic
office supplies such as and pen holders from
old 3.5" disks.
if you don't fancy paying for a floppy disk note pad,
why not try making your own:
whilst the rise of the MP3 might have solidified the
cassette tape's place in the retro format charts the
floppy disk sits somewhere on the border at present.
for many, the format is dead but others seem to have
found a certain charm in its low-storage capacity
and iconic look.
A brief history
30 years ago 100KB disks were the most effective
means of transferring data between computers.
invented by IBM's alan shugart in 1971, floppies
are made up of a 'floppy' magnetic storage disk
encased in a plastic square or rectangular outer shell.
over the years its size was reduced by more than half
with the 8" version being replaced by the 5.25" and
the 3.5" surpassing that. from the mid 1970s to the
late 1990s the format remained popular until the
introduction of flash and optical storage devices
such as CD-Rs and USB sticks.
one of the first notable instances of the formats
wane came when apple decided to remove floppy disk
drives from their iMac in 1998, a move which would
soon be followed over the next few years by other
computer manufacturers. in 2007 retailers began to
that they would not stock floppy disks
anymore, though this didn't mean the end...
Recent resurgence
in the last few years more and more instances of
the floppy have been spotted online, in galleries
and our streets and roads! musicians and
media-alchemists have also warmed to the re-use
of them for 'anti-corporate' releases.
Art and design
one of the first instances of the floppy disk aesthetic
being used in the music world came via new order's
1983 single 'blue monday'. peter saville's die-cut record
sleeve is said to have cost so much to produce that
factory records actually lost money on each copy
sold - hence the sleeve was soon replaced by a
similar non-die-cut design. the lavish nature of this
piece is somewhat removed from what we see
happening with floppy creations today.
numerous 'street artists' blaze their designs across old
floppies which are then randomly glued or strategically
placed around various public places.
other crafty artists prefer to keep their work indoors such
as the american george w. hart, who's 'disk
combobulation' features thirty 3.5 inch floppy disks.
each of them are slotted into each other forming a precise
five-color pattern. fellow floppy enthusiast, lara weigand also
tried her hand at working with the plastic diskettes, this year
she decided to cover her car in them as part of the
seattle art car blowout.
the huge amount of redundant floppies have found
their way into the hands of aspiring designers and
hobbyists. online you can find, dresses, bags, notebooks
and other office novelties conjured up from them.
for instance, at
instructables. 'geekgear' is also at it, they create basic
office supplies such as and pen holders from
old 3.5" disks.
if you don't fancy paying for a floppy disk note pad,
why not try making your own:
No comments:
Post a Comment