I remember

[Jules Richardson]

What, no open-reel tape? :-)

[dennis]

They were still using paper tape when I started work, I actually learnt Fortran using punch cards and mailing them to imperial college to be run while at primary school. You could get a "kit" to make a computer, it was transistors arranged in flip flops, etc. no TTL, etc.

[Bob Eager]

Same here. My first language was Mercury Autocode, punched on cards and sent to the local college. Then BASIC on an experimental timesharing system at university, followed by mainframe assembler (Elliott 4130) - on punched cards. FORTRAN next, and then ALGOL - all within the space of a year...

[Davey]

Even before learning English? Wow!

[Bob Eager]

There are some who would insist that is so! .-)

[Rick Hughes]

I remember seeing 3.5" optical floppies (callee flopticals) in mid 90's ... could handle 21MB which was seen as insane at that time. only ever saw them used with one customer, suppose hey never caught on ... bit like bubble memory which was seen as the future at the end of the 70's

[John Rumm]

I used to get a few like that through the post... However they usually worked ok when unfolded!

(the famous (and probably urban legend) case being a package marked "Floppy discs do not bend", and the postman scribbling "oh yes they do" on the package and stuffing it in the letterbox!)

[John Rumm]

You remember how a box of ten 3.5" floppies often came in small individual plastic sleeves in the early days? I recall one enterprising shop selling these as an optional extra, calling them floppy disk condoms "to protect against computer viruses" ;-)

[John Rumm]

Twas better than 90K on a 8" floppy!

[Bob Eager]

One of mine (that I'd waited ages for as a one-off from the USA) got folded. The case was too badly creased to unfold. Cut it apart and put the actual disk in another case, just to read it.

[Bob Eager]

The original PC only did 180kB anyway (8 sectors/track, 40 tracks, single sided). Then the formatting went up to 9 sectors/track (180kB) and then the double sided ones appeared. That's when I got my first DOS (PCDOS

2.0).

[Mike Barnes]

John Rumm :

I heard the same UL about photos, long before floppies were invented.

[hugh]

Now they WERE floppy

[John Rumm]

Indeed... then eventually 1.2MB on special HD discs, years after Chuck Peddle had already got near enough that on 80 track double density discs using GCR encoding rather than MFM.

[Reentrant]

If you mean the IBM PC, the 8 sector/track SS 5.25" drive was USA only. The original EMEA model first shipped in 1983 and had a 9 sector/track drive. Single-sided drives were very soon replaced by double-sided ones.

Mine had PC DOS 1.1, an IRMA card (3270 emulator), Multiplan and Peachtext.

[Bob Eager]

I did - just noticed!

Yes...the AT came with 1.2MB disks - 80 track and different encoding. And it never read 360kB disks very well...

[Davey]

I've still got some made in, and purchased in, China. Now they are rare. I can't use them anywhere, but why would I want old SC3 and Wordperfect files anyway?

--=20 Davey.

[brass monkey]

I've still got some made in, and purchased in, China. Now they are rare. I can't use them anywhere, but why would I want old SC3 and Wordperfect files anyway?

I've been looking for 5.25" lockable storage cases, ideal for storing CDs/DVDs. They're like rocking horse shit.

[Davey]

You need a Time Machine! I had some 3.5" ones, a long time ago........ My DVDs are stored in, ahem, old bird-feed fat-ball boxes. Just the right size. Not lockable, at all, though.

[brass monkey]

Unbelievably I just found one on ebay for a tenner. Beans on toast tomorrow.