There are some things that remain timeless and will never die, such as classical music, which can be enjoyed by new generations and appreciated for its grace, complexity, and the effect it has had on the music we have today. One thing that perhaps goes against everything that’s just been said is the floppy disk. Floppy disks are the fossilized remains of a time when data was counted in mere megabytes, and hitting save meant listening to the grind of a plastic disk going about its business. If an SSD made this kind of noise, one might jump out of their pants.
For most of us, the idea of using a floppy disk has been dead and buried for years, shoved aside by other storage media such as USB sticks, SSDs, and the all-consuming cloud. For certain industries, however, there are still quite a number of floppy disks quietly doing their job, such as helping to keep planes flying, factory machinery running, and even keeping music equipment alive.
These flimsy plastic disks aren’t just a nostalgic footnote—they are reliable and dependable in their own right. For the systems designed around them, floppies still work, even as the rest of the tech world hasn’t just left the station—it’s built an entirely new railroad where floppies shouldn’t even come into the equation. The death of the floppy has been predicted for years, but its continued presence highlights just how much harder it is to modernize than to innovate.
So, who is exactly keeping the floppy disk alive? Why won’t floppies just die off and become a thing of the past? Some things are hard to kill, like Batman, but the floppy disk seems to be a resilient relic of the past that none of us can seem to get rid of.
Starting with one of the more pivotal industries that still rely on the floppy disk, the aviation industry has a habit of clinging to old tech like a life raft. Take an aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, a triumph of 1980s and 1990s engineering that’s still flying people like me around the world every single day. These giant metal flying mechanical birds aren’t just carrying passengers, but they’re also hauling around onboard systems that haven’t aged a day since installation. Many of these systems still rely on floppy disks to upload critical navigation data and communication protocols; yes, floppy disks are that critical to aviation.
The same plastic relics that most of us haven’t touched in decades are somehow still doing the rounds at 30,000 feet. The same 1.44MB marvels most of us ditched before the millennium and probably haven’t thought about since are still a key part of keeping these aircraft in the sky. Who would have thought it?
Why hasn’t this changed? Overhauling avionics equipment isn’t like upgrading your home PC; it’s a bureaucratic and logistical nightmare. Every change made has to be rigorously tested, certified, and signed off on, and given the world as we know it runs on a little thing called money, none of that comes cheap and it all has to be justified. We’re talking millions of dollars and years of paperwork just to replace a system that already works. For the airlines that are already operating on tight profit margins, sticking with what works, no matter how ancient, is a more palatable notion than throwing money at an expensive upgrade. Floppy disks might look like relics, and they are, but when they’re still doing the job, there’s really little need to fix something that isn’t broken.
The music world isn’t much different to aviation in that it still relies on the plastic diskettes. Floppy disks remain firmly embedded right within the workflow of vintage synths and samplers. Machines like the Roland TR-808 and Akai MPC60 are staples in music production, their quirks and limitations revered as part of their charm. And yes, they still load up sound samples and sequences via floppy disks.
While some musicians retrofit these old workhorses with more modern media formats such as USB or SD card slots, others won’t part with their floppies quite so easily. For purists, swapping a disk feels like a ritual, and the sound of those vintage machines is worth the hassle for nostalgia, authenticity, and tonal precision. In fact, suppliers are still producing new floppies to cater to this niche, ensuring that the format survives in the corners of recording studios where time stands still.
And then there’s the Japanese government, proving that bureaucracy can keep obsolete tech on the payroll even when it’s long past its sell-by date. Up until June 2024, more than 1,000 active regulations required data to be stored on physical media like floppies and CDs. These weren’t forgotten leftovers from a bygone era; they were fully enforced mandates, forcing government offices and businesses to stick with storage methods that the rest of the world ditched decades ago.
While these rules may have been scrapped, floppy disks are still alive and spinning in many Japanese offices. Transitioning to modern systems isn’t just a matter of flipping a switch—it represents a cultural and logistical headache. Local governments often lack the funds and expertise for a full digital overhaul, and some are even still clinging to paper records as backups. In such a context, floppy disks almost seem futuristic, well, compared to paper at least.
Factories within our industries also currently ensure the floppy’s survival. A considerable amount of the industrial equipement that was built in the 1980s and 1990s, including things like CNC machines and injection molding systems actually often rely on floppies to load configurations or run diagnostics. These machines were built to last, be reliable, and when it comes to modernising, they can be outrageously expensive to replace or upgrade. As long as floppy disks can still be bought, manufacturers perhaps see no reason to mess with what’s already working.
The result? A technology that most of us chucked in the bin years ago is still thriving in niches where budgets are tight, stability is key, and change is more trouble than it’s worth—or too expensive to justify. Whether it’s loading flight data, powering old-school drum machines, or keeping factory floors ticking over, floppies show that obsolete doesn’t always mean out of service. Not yet, anyway.
Replacing all of this equipment from yesteryear that still works as good as it did it landed on a production line isn’t just costly, but it’s often unnecessary. When a single machine costs hundreds of thousands, or even millions to upgrade or replace, many businesses are understandably reluctant to just make changes just for the sake of modernizing something such as storage. As long as floppies are available, they’ll continue to serve as an affordable solution, even in some of the most critical of ways.
There are instances where key infrastructure is still reliant on floppy disks, such as the San Francisco Muni Metro system. Yes, a large U.S. city still has floppy disks running a critical transportation network. Unfortunately for the floppy lover, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) back in October announced that it is overhauling and upgrading its systems to the modern age. Interestingly and perhaps ironically, the company drafted in to facilitate what we simply call Project Kill Floppy is Hitachi Rail, the external division of Hitachi—a Japanese company modernizing another country’s transportation system from the very technology its own government has taken an age to replace. Either way, it’s clear that even the industries still reliant on floppy disks are starting to not only consider replacing the old tech but are actually putting in millions of capital to facilitate it.
The floppy disk survives not because it’s particularly good at anything by today’s standards, but because it’s embedded in systems that aren’t easily replaced. Modernizing these systems often involves more than just a hardware upgrade; it requires reworking processes, retraining staff, and, in many cases, rewriting the software itself. For industries that prioritize reliability and cost-efficiency, the status quo of keeping a relic at the heart of things often feels like the safest option.
Floppies do have some surprising advantages, even when compared to modern-day storage solutions. They don’t rely on network connectivity, they’re immune to ransomware, and they provide a simple, air-gapped solution for transferring data. In a world where over-engineered systems can sometimes fail in unexpected ways, and cost an arm and a leg to fix, the simplicity of a floppy disk is… oddly reassuring.
While floppies are still spinning in certain industries, their days are clearly numbered—and quite rightly. Some things should remain in the past, and floppy disks are one of them. Specialty suppliers do still continue to produce disks, but their availability is dwindling, and the prices are rising. Sooner or later, even the most stubborn of holdouts will have to move on and begin planning to replace the archaic storage method; whether that’s swapping out floppy drives for USB or biting the bullet and replacing entire systems altogether. For governments and businesses still clinging to their floppies, the problem isn’t just technical; it’s also cultural.
The floppy disk just won’t seem to die, but eventually, new machines, new aircraft—industry as a whole—will have to finally get rid of the plastic diskettes. It’s simply inevitable. Regardless of whether you have a soft spot for floppy disks or simply don’t care, remember this: the next time you’re flying to another country, it’s highly likely that a floppy disk played a key part in the trip. Yes, that same thin plastic relic you once used more than 20 years ago. Madness!
There are some things that remain timeless and will never die, such as classical music, which can be enjoyed by new generations and appreciated for its grace, complexity, and the effect it has had on the music we have today. One thing that perhaps goes against everything that’s just been said is the floppy disk. Floppy disks are the fossilized remains of a time when data was counted in mere megabytes, and hitting save meant listening to the grind of a plastic disk going about its business. If an SSD made this kind of noise, one might jump out of their pants.
For most of us, the idea of using a floppy disk has been dead and buried for years, shoved aside by other storage media such as USB sticks, SSDs, and the all-consuming cloud. For certain industries, however, floppy disks are still quietly doing their job, such as helping to keep planes flying, factory machinery running, and even keeping music equipment alive.
There was a time in history where the floppy disk wasn’t the relic it is today, but the primary means of saving and storing files and data. During the 1970s, IBM’s 8-inch floppy revolutionized the world of data storage, offering a mind bllowing and schintilating 80 kilobytes of space, which was enough for a few text files by today’s standards. As the decades have rolled on, floppies shrank in pyhisichal size and grew in popularity. By the time the 1990s rolled in, the iconic 3.5-inch diskette had become a household staple, holding entire operating systems, school projects, and even Doom save files.
Fast forward to today, and the only floppy most of us encounter is the “save” icon in Word. Despite the tech world moving onto SSDs and even the cloud to store our data, floppies have remained in our lives and outlasting their expected obsolescence. Who would have thought that these flimsy plastic disks, once tting-edge storage of its time, but now ancient and archaic, would still be playing a vital rolee in critical infrastructure and industries?
These flimsy plastic disks aren’t just a nostalgic footnote—they are reliable and dependable in their own right. For the systems designed around them, floppies still work and as the rest of the tech world hasn’t just left the station on the floppy, the entire railroad is different. The death of the floppy has been predicted for years, but its continued presence highlights just how much harder it is to modernize than to innovate, and it seems hard to kill the floppy.
So, who is exactly keeping the floppy disk alive? Some things are harder to kill than others, like Batman, but the floppy disk seems to be a resilient relic of the past that none of us can seem to get rid of.
Starting with one of the more pivotal industries that still rely on the floppy disk, the aviation industry has a habit of clinging to old tech like a life raft. Take an aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, which is a large sucess of 1980s and 1990s engineering that’s still flying people like me around the world every single day. These planes aren’t just carrying passengers, but they’re also running onboard systems that haven’t aged a day since installation. Many of these systems still rely on floppy disks to upload critical navigation data and communication protocols.
Why hasn’t this changed? Overhauling avionics equipment isn’t like upgrading your home PC; it’s a bureaucratic and logistical nightmare. Every change has to be rigorously tested, certified, and signed off on, and none of that comes cheap. We’re talking millions of dollars and years of paperwork just to replace a system that already works. For airlines operating on razor-thin margins, sticking with what works, no matter how ancient, is far more palatable than throwing money at an expensive upgrade. Floppy disks might look like relics, and they are, but when they’re still doing the job, there’s little incentive to fix what isn’t broken.
The music world isn’t much different in its reliance on floppy disks. Floppies remain embedded in the workflow of vintage synths and samplers. Machines like the Roland TR-808 and Akai MPC60 are staples in music production, their quirks and limitations revered as part of their charm. And yes, they still load up sound samples and sequences via floppy disks.
While some musicians retrofit these old workhorses with more modern media formats such as USB or SD card slots, others won’t part with their floppies quite so easily. For purists, swapping a disk feels like a ritual, and the sound of those vintage machines is worth the hassle for nostalgia, authenticity, and tonal precision. In fact, suppliers are still producing new floppies to cater to this niche, ensuring that the format survives in the corners of recording studios where time stands still.
And then there’s the Japanese government, proving that bureaucracy can keep obsolete tech on the payroll even when it’s long past its sell-by date. Up until June 2024, more than 1,000 active regulations required data to be stored on physical media like floppies and CDs. These weren’t forgotten leftovers from a bygone era; they were fully enforced mandates, forcing government offices and businesses to stick with storage methods that the rest of the world ditched decades ago.
While these rules may have been scrapped, floppy disks are still alive and spinning in many Japanese offices. Transitioning to modern systems isn’t just a matter of flipping a switch—it represents a cultural and logistical headache. Local governments often lack the funds and expertise for a full digital overhaul, and some are even still clinging to paper records as backups. In such a context, floppy disks almost seem futuristic—well, compared to paper at least.
Factories also ensure the floppy’s survival. Industrial equipment built in the 1980s and 1990s, such as CNC machines and injection molding systems, often relies on floppies to load configurations or run diagnostics. These machines were built to last, be reliable, and are outrageously expensive to replace or upgrade. As long as floppy disks can still be bought, manufacturers see no reason to mess with what’s already working.
The result? A technology that most of us chucked in the bin years ago is still thriving in niches where budgets are tight, stability is key, and change is more trouble than it’s worth—or too expensive to justify. Whether it’s loading flight data, powering old-school drum machines, or keeping factory floors ticking over, floppies show that obsolete doesn’t always mean out of service. Not yet, anyway.
Replacing all of this equipment that still works as well as it did when it landed on the production line isn’t just costly—it’s often unnecessary. When a single machine costs hundreds of thousands, or even millions to upgrade or replace, businesses are understandably reluctant to make changes just for the sake of modernizing storage. As long as floppies are available, they’ll continue to serve as an affordable solution, even in critical ways.
There are instances where key infrastructure is still reliant on floppy disks, such as the San Francisco Muni Metro system. Yes, a large U.S. city still has floppy disks running a critical transportation network. Unfortunately for the floppy lover, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced back in October that it is overhauling its systems to the modern age. Ironically, the company handling Project Kill Floppy is Hitachi Rail—a Japanese company modernizing another country’s transportation system from the very technology its own government only recently replaced. Either way, it’s clear that even the industries still reliant on floppy disks are starting to replace the old tech.
The floppy disk survives not because it’s particularly good by today’s standards, but because it’s embedded in systems that aren’t easily replaced. Modernizing these systems often involves more than just a hardware upgrade; it requires reworking processes, retraining staff, and, in many cases, rewriting the software itself. For industries that prioritize reliability and cost-efficiency, the status quo of keeping a relic at the heart of things often feels like the safest option.
Floppies do have some surprising advantages, even when compared to modern storage solutions. They don’t rely on network connectivity, they’re immune to ransomware, and they provide a simple, air-gapped solution for transferring data. In a world where over-engineered systems can sometimes fail in unexpected ways, the simplicity of a floppy disk is… oddly reassuring.
While floppies are still spinning in certain industries, their days are clearly numbered—and quite rightly. Some things should remain in the past, and floppy disks are one of them. Specialty suppliers still produce disks, but their availability is dwindling, and prices are rising. Sooner or later, even the most stubborn holdouts will have to move on, whether that’s swapping out floppy drives for USB or biting the bullet and replacing entire systems. For governments and businesses still clinging to floppies, the problem isn’t just technical; it’s also cultural.
The floppy disk just won’t seem to die, but eventually, new machines, new aircraft—industry as a whole—will have to finally get rid of the plastic diskettes. It’s simply inevitable. Regardless of whether you have a soft spot for floppy disks or simply don’t care, remember this: the next time you’re flying to another country, it’s highly likely that a floppy disk played a key part in the trip. Madness!
