an elegant weapon for a more civilized age
databases aren't as exciting as they used to be
Microsoft should bring back their heavy metal branding
you don't have to be trans to write COBOL
prompt engineering in 1979
the original Apple Card
before goldbolt there was godbout
that's not how floppies work, Microsoft
narrator: the 3" floppy did not become the new standard
@th is that a quickdisk

@Rairii @th No, that was 2.8". 3" disks were used widely in Amstrad (PCW 8256/8512/9512, CPC 6128), Spectrum +3, and Enterprise systems amongst others.

Good solid disks. 360KB (single sided, 180KB per side), or 720KB double sided.

More expensive than 3.5" disks, but generally much more reliable.

@syllopsium @Rairii @th Not to be confused with the demented 2.5" floppy disk used by the Zenith MiniSport (I still probably have a couple lying around somewhere). About the width of a credit card but only 2/3 the length, looks like a 3.5" disk that shrank 50%. They were remarkably good, all things considered, but rare as hens teeth and generally ridiculous.

(The MiniSport came with an external 3.5" drive. Later MiniSports ditched the 2.5" drive for a far more practical 20Mb hard disk.)

@cstross @Rairii @th Oh my, the Zenith Minisport - that really is quite rare! I remember hearing about them but have never seen one in the wild. Are they still 720KB?
@syllopsium @Rairii @th Yes, the Zenith MiniSport's 2.5" floppies held 720K. In every respect they behaved just like a miniature DSDD 3.5" floppy.
@th it ruled in the UK thanks to Amstrad. Best floppies EVAR
@scruss @th Still got a couple of hundred and the drives are easy to repair and reliable unlike a lot 3.5"

@scruss

@th
And ZX spectrum+3 used 3" floppies, that image brought me flashbacks of a happy childhood gaming.

@Sroot @th yeah, it was an Amstrad machine too.

The only other machine that used 'em was also from the UK but wasn't Amstrad: the Tatung Einstein. Kind of a z80 CP/M machine that also had decent colour graphics and the flat out best keyboard on any machine, ever.

@th H. Yes. Of PCW fame in Europe
@th 3" is never enough.

@th I really want to model one of these now. *looks at $20 pricetag of individual ones on ebay and etsy*

Uhhhhhh... anybody got any CF2 pics with measurements?

@th I know, right, that would totally be 64 bit floppy right there. 😏
clearly a diy shuriken
@th
@th it's how throwing stars work
@th "see your Microsoft dealer" sounds a bit dodgy .
"Yeah, I started with a bit of Qbasic, now I'm doing the full .net <sniff>"
@simonbtemple @th "I can't do anything these days without a few VBA macros in the morning"
@th But, it would be cool if they did!
@th Has something of the throwing star about it...
@th Sounds like witchcraft. Salem, Oregon? Close enough to confirm the suspicion.