DOS ain't dead

You might have heard about www.Amazon.com. just try it

Tom

> I'm still using 3.5" floppy diskettes for back-ups.
>
> I've got boxes of unused floppies that have sat in storage for a decade or
> more, and I'm concerned that the binder on those disks may have been
> degraded from fluctuations in temperature, humidity and just the passage of
> time.
>
> I'm wondering if floppies are even manufactured anymore.

It doesn't look good for ye olde floppies.

http://www.osnews.com/comments/26316

http://h30565.www3.hp.com/t5/Feature-Articles/The-History-of-the-Floppy-Disk/ba-p/6434

> "Apple prospered the most from the floppy drive but ironically
> was the first to abandon it as read-writable CDs and DVDs took
> over. The 1998 iMac was the first consumer computer to ship
> without any floppy drive.
>
> However, the floppy drive took more than a decade to die. Sony,
> which at the end owned 70% of what was left of the market,
> announced in 2010 that it was stopping the manufacture of 3.5? diskettes.
>
> Today, you can still buy new 1.44MB floppy drives and floppy disks,
> but for the other formats you need to look to eBay or yard sales.
> If you really want a new 3.5? drive or disks, I'd get them sooner
> than later. Their day is almost done."

> I've got boxes of unused floppies that have sat in storage for a decade or
> more, and I'm concerned that the binder on those disks may have been
> degraded from fluctuations in temperature, humidity and just the passage of
> time.

Just found this the other day: 360KB Floppies still readable 30 years later

---
Forum admin

> One of these days I'll start making the switchover to backing up my DOS
> files to external hard drives.
>
> But in the meantime, I'm still using 3.5" floppy diskettes for back-ups.
>
> But I'm wondering if floppies are even manufactured anymore.
>
> Does anyone know the answer the that question?
>
> And if so. Does anyone know of a reliable source of new floppies?

You can still find new floppies. Try to get Imation 5.25" (bar code
05111112883 from 10 floppy box) or 3.5" (bar code 05111112881 from 10
floppy box), both items USA made in 2010.
They are the best I could find (chromium dioxide on PTFE, it looks like
a black mirror).
Since I found them here in Serbia, I think you can get them in USA also.
The address is:
Imation Enterprises Corp.
1 Imation Place, Oakdale, MN 55128-3414 USA