Even Japan is saying goodbye to diskettes. Many do not even remember them – Communication – Science and technology

Until recently, the Japanese had to submit documents on outdated diskettes for more than a thousand official acts. This is finally over.

Do you still remember the times when you had to insert flimsy disks into your computer instead of CDs and DVDs? The first diskettes with a diameter of 8 inches were introduced in 1971 and were supposed to replace the magnetic tapes used until then. At that time, only 80 kilobytes of data could be stored on one diskette. The change came a few years later, when large floppy disks were replaced by smaller, 5.25-inch media with a capacity of 110 kilobytes of data. Later, their capacity increased from 360 kilobytes to 1.2 megabytes. However, they were still impractical and, in their own way, very fragile. All it took was a small bend of the plastic or metal cover, dust, increased temperature and humidity or a stronger magnet, and the data was irretrievably gone.

Some of the problems were solved by 3.5-inch floppy disks, which were introduced in 1984. They were made of a more durable plastic casing and had capacities ranging from 720 kilobytes to 1.44 megabytes. In the 1990s, they became the standard for data transfer and storage, when every personal computer owner used them. Later, diskettes began to be replaced by newer, more robust and larger media such as CDs and DVDs, USB keys and the like. Whoever thought that this was the end of the floppy disk era would be wrong. Floppy disks are still used in some countries.

Until recently, floppy disks were also used in the United States to control the nuclear arsenal

Floppy disks are no longer found in homes, but in the United States, Russia and Japan, floppy disks are still used for their supposed reliability and resistance to cyber attacks. The adoption of newer technologies was also hindered by bureaucratic habits, resistance to changes, legislative requirements, or compatibility with existing systems. In the United States, floppy disks are still used in the aerospace and defense industries. For example, the US nuclear forces used large 8-inch floppy disks to manage missile systems until 2019. In Russia, government agencies have not invested as much in the renewal of computer systems and infrastructure as in other countries, and therefore floppy disks can still be found in many state apparatuses.

After all, Japan has only recently cut floppy disks. Until last month, citizens were encouraged to deliver some documents to the government using outdated floppy disks. The use of floppy disks was necessary for more than a thousand formal acts. However, the Japanese government dropped its demands these days and thus completed its fight, which will be declared by the Minister for Digitization, Taro Kono, in 2021. As he stated three years ago, his goal was to digitize the processes so that they correspond to the current era and to completely eliminate the use of outdated diskettes from the bureaucratic apparatus. Its other goal is to abolish the use of faxes, which are still used more often than e-mails by some businesses in the country.