The floppy disk was invented in 1967 by IBM engineers to provide a reliable and inexpensive way to load software and updates onto mainframe computers. Floppy disks stored data on flexible magnetic disks and helped enable the personal computer revolution by allowing for easy transfer of data and programs between computers. At its peak in the mid-1990s, over 5 billion floppy disks were sold worldwide per year. While floppy disks are rarely used today due to larger storage options, they had a huge impact by making data transfer portable and easy, fueling the growth of the software industry and changing how people worked.

1. FLOPPY DISKS
As an innovation
example
Nejat Kutup

2. Some facts
• The floppy disk was once ubiquitous.
• More than five billion were sold per
year worldwide at its peak in the mid1990s.
• Now, the little plastic packages are a
fast-fading memory.

3. Some facts
Yet the floppy disk will be counted as a singular
advance in computing history.
Floppies helped enable the
PC revolution and the emergence of an
independent software industry
that now includes more than
10,000 companies.

4. A quote
“It turned out to be one of the
most influential product
introductions ever in the
industry,”
says Jim Porter, disk drive analyst.

5. History,
invention,
evolution,
diffusion

6. History
The floppy got its start at IBM’s data storage
works in San Jose, California.
In 1967, a small team of engineers under the
leadership of David L. Noble started working on
developing a reliable and inexpensive system
for loading instructions and installing software
updates into mainframe computers.

7. History
The big machines were already equipped
with hard disk drives, also invented by
IBM engineers, but people used paper
punched punch cards for data entry and
software programming.

8. Punch cards

9. History
The big machines were already equipped
with hard disk drives, also invented by
IBM engineers, but people used paper
punched cards for data entry and
software programming.

10. History
The team considered using magnetic
tape first, but then, in a project codenamed “Minnow,” they switched to
using a flexible Mylar disk coated with
magnetic material.
That could be inserted through a slot
into a disk drive mechanism and spun on
a spindle.

11. History
After trying several different
options, the team came up with a
flexible disk coated with magnetic
material.
The original disk had the capacity
of 3000 punched cards.

12. Another quote
“I had no idea how important it
would become and how
widespread,”
recalls Warren L. Dalziel, the lead
inventor of the floppy disk drive.

13. IBM
IBM made floppy disk drives for many years, and it continued
to innovate.
In 1984, it introduced the high density floppy disk for the PC,
which could store 1.2 megabytes of data—capacious at the
time.
It produced the 3-½ inch floppy drives that became the
mainstay of computing in the 1990s.
Then, as the profit margins for floppy drives shrank, IBM got
out of the business.

14. The End
In April 2010, Sony, the only company still producing
floppy disks, announced it would stop manufacturing
them in March 2011.
In response to this announcement, BBC News Magazine
asked readers how they use floppy disks today.
Many people responded that they still use floppy disks
to update or back up old systems, but others have found
more unique uses as drink coasters, spatulas, ice
scrapers and clothing accessories.

15. IMPACTS

16. Ease of use
• When introduced by IBM in 1971, the floppy disk made it
possible to easily load software and updates onto
mainframe computers.
• As the technology evolved and personal computers
became popular, the floppy disk enabled people to share
data and programs more easily.
• An office worker could save documents on a disk at the
end of the day and load them onto his home computer to
finish up that night. A college student could save her
research paper on a floppy disk and submit it to her
professor to read and grade on his office computer.

17. MORE IMPACTS

18. Storage Capacity
• Floppy drives can be used to store
documents, graphics-rich files, music,
photos, software applications and
utility programs.

19. Portability
• Extremely lightweight and compact, highly
portable and can be easily carried in a
pocket or a wallet/purse by frequent
travelers, mobile workers, academicians, IT
technicians, students.
• People weren’t tied to a specific computer
anymore. They could easily transfer data
and programs from one machine to
another.

20. Work habits
• It truly revolutionized the way people
worked, and quickly became the most
widely used storage medium for small
systems.

21. Backup and Promotions
• Back-up Storage Medium
• Promotional Purposes

22. Today
• Although floppy disks are not used often in
today’s world of gigabytes and terabytes,
some companies and individuals still rely on
them to update or back up older systems.
• For others, floppy disks have become a
common feature in recycled art.

23. Today
And the icon of a floppy
disk remains the universal
symbol for saving files.

25. THANK YOU