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Top Law-Related Floppy Disks in the Past Year

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At Big Legal Brain, we’re big fans of 3 1/4 inch floppy disks, the real workhorse of data storage. Our love of the floppy explains in part why we were saddened by Steve Jobs’s death late last year. To us, Jobs exuded floppy disk like no other.

Like recent purveyors of cassette tapes, however, we get razzed quite a bit by our more tech-inclined lawyer colleagues, especially those who switched to using Zip drives early on. But in the spirit of keeping the floppy disk trade active and growing, here are three top floppy disks we came across in the past year, each worth tracking down at the flea market or ordering through our affiliate link with iOmega.

Shpoonkle for Dummies Companion Disk

Collected Questions of Clarence Thomas

Complete Law Job Listings—2012 Edition

  • You’re mixing up your media. The floppy you’re showing is 3-1/2″ – you’re confusing the fraction with the even more awesome 5-1/4″ floppy.

    The 3-1/2 inchers aren’t even really floppy, in my opinion. They’re outright rigid. Only the 5-1/4 and the 8 incher really deserve that moniker.

    Plus, the 3-1/2 held 1.44MB in its heyday, and who could possibly need all that storage? No, the 720 kb of the 5-1/4 was more than enough. Plus, you could use scissors or a hole punch and make single-sided disks double-sided. Boom! Automagic double capacity at half the price.

    And if we’re really going to talk about high-quality storage, call me when we’re going to talk about tape. Or punchcards. My god, punchcards! That’s a medium you could count on.

    • Ellen

      Wow, you sound so SMART!

    • Jake

      In the heyday most 3.5″ were double-sided double-density (1.44 MB), as were most 5.25″ (1.2 MB, where 1 MB = 1024k) rather than 720k , which was about the same as the 3.5″.

      If you take them apart or durability test them in a washing machine you’ll see there’s not much difference in their construction.

      • Ellen

        You sound smart too but I will not just sleep with any man until he gives me a ring and we MARRY. Fooey!