# I found an 8.25" floppy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 21, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515 "2001-11-21T02:21:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/21 "2001-11-22T00:13:21Z")
lol, i love the “[PBS]” ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/22 "2001-11-22T01:07:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by bdgr \* > > **Xenix, for those of you unfamiliar, was a version of Unix. SO it accepted Unix comands.** > > Ahhh . . . I think I tried things like “clr” and “dir.” i don’t know Unix, but I’m guessing things like that could be common across languages. > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\* A lot of machines used to use 8" drives, Tandy Models 2,12,16,6000(new name for 16). My first computer job was a tech on these things, and used to have one(traded for an AMC Pacer).\*\* > > Wanted something that weighed less & took up less space, eh? 😃 \*\* Yep…A lot of the commands interchange. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/23 "2001-11-22T01:10:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by bdgr \* > > A lot of machines used to use 8" drives, Tandy Models 2,12,16,6000(new name for 16). My first computer job was a tech on these things, and used to have one(traded for an AMC Pacer)._\* > > Wanted something that weighed less & took up less space, eh? 😃 \*\* Actually, I had a buyer for the pacer already, but not the xenix box. I miss the pacer. I drove that thing all over Utah. I even towed a 66 microbus from SLC to Payson. You think you get wierd looks driving a pacer, try driving a pacer with a microbus on a car dolly behind it. It looked for all the world like the bus was trying to mount the pacer. Think of the offspring. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/24 "2001-11-22T01:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stuffinb \* > \*\*Hey you wanna know old? Directly across from my office door is one of [these](http://www-1.ibm.com/ibm/history/catalog/itemdetail_256.html) \*\* I met a guy one time who had one in his third story appartment. He got his job, they offered to move his household goods for him from wherever he was from. They had to pay movers to haul this 800 pound monstrocity up 3 flights of stairs. Whats worse, a friend of mine bought it from him, and I had to help move it down the stairs. It and the manuals took two pickups to haul away. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/25 "2001-11-22T02:27:50Z")
I just wanted to mention that there is a novel called The Crow Road by Iain Banks which contains this very same problem as a plot device. ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/26 "2001-11-22T02:30:01Z")
example. You can find these on ebay. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/27 "2001-11-22T03:33:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by buddy1 \* > \*\*I have a PHILIPS dot-matrix printer (ca. 1978). It is the size of a suitcase, and weighs a ton! Unfortunately, the power supply burnt out, but just to make you guys realize how things have changed, this thing cost around $1500.00 new! \*\* And I’ve got you beat with a fine leather belt. I have the book on how to convert your IBM Selectric™ typewriter into a computer printer. All of 50¢ in the thrift shop. I also have the commercially produced ASCII to Selectric code conversion box bought in another thrift shop for all of $5.[sup]00[/sup] (I had to argue them down from $15.[sup]00[/sup] by indicating that the printers they had for sale cost less than they wanted for the converter). I even use to have a Selectric™ typewriter as well, but @sshole so-called “friends” burned it out the one time loaned it to them. It has since been thrown out. We’ll ignore the 14" diameter “mud” (ferrous oxide) disc drive platters I have in my eletronics collection. These were originally used for television instant replay. Feel free to peruse my [MPSIMS post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=100294)for a glimpse into true solid state madness. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515/28 "2001-11-22T07:06:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DougC \* > \*\*[PBS] Millions of years ago, giant floppies roamed the Earth. It was the Age of Floppies…[/PBS] \*\* You have no idea. Ever seen an 16 inch “sloppy disk”…? It was a naked 16 inch piece of magnetic media, with no sleeve to protect it, they were notoriously fragile. It was used in PLATO IV terminals (circa 1972) and was driven not by an electric motor, but by a compressed air turbine. The disks could store digital data or audio recordings. Boy I wish I could find an old 16in sloppy disk, nobody ever believes me when I describe it. I’d love to see the looks on people’s faces when I pull out my 16 incher… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-an-8-25-floppy/94515.md?page=1)