# What's the market for floppy disks these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815 "2009-11-24T19:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815/21 "2011-03-19T01:40:52Z")
I still use a floppy for a backup drive for an old money program I like. Say what you like about dot matrix printers- the ribbons were crazy easy to re-ink. I had one for about seven years and never bought a replacement ribbon cartridge. Worked fine the whole time. Oh- gotta add that I have a couple of lifetime’s supply of floppies, rescued from the trash pile of obsolescent computer stuff at the school where I worked. Got a huge supply of barely used, high-quality VHS tapes the same way (they had been used as surveillance tapes on the school buses). ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815/22 "2011-03-19T19:19:22Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > dot matrix printers- the ribbons were crazy easy to re-ink. I had one for about seven years and never bought a replacement ribbon cartridge. can you please explain? I would love to do this! But I just googled re-ink +ribbon and got a lot of very,very complicated instructions, with lots of warnings not to touch certain parts of the mechanism and not to use certain types of ink, etc. It doesn’t look easy to me. (I still use a dot-matrix printer for an old Dos program that can’t print properly on modern printers ) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815/23 "2011-03-19T19:35:58Z")
High school nerds still use them as a form of currency for aquiring girls panties. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815/24 "2011-03-19T20:03:41Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > can you please explain? I would love to do this! > But I just googled re-ink +ribbon and got a lot of very,very complicated instructions, with lots of warnings not to touch certain parts of the mechanism and not to use certain types of ink, etc. > It doesn’t look easy to me. I am not an expert on ribbons, but I remember some manufacturers who said that the ink served as a lubricant for their heads and the wrong kind of ink could gum up the works something fierce. Also, even though I’m sure that ribbons can be reinked a number of times (one printer I had even had a sponge roller in the path where ink was supposed to be held for dynamic reinking, and the transport mechanism reversed at each end), eventually the fibers in the ribbon will disintegrate and/or clog up stuff. False economy over time. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815/25 "2011-03-19T22:24:27Z")
The printer I had was black ink only, Packard Bell. I just carefully pried the top off of the ribbon cartridge, and inked the ribbon using a dropper and stamp pad ink. Bought the thing in '93, I think, so maybe my technique’s a little dated now. The printer never did stop working, and I never bought another ribbon. Replaced it in 2000. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-market-for-floppy-disks-these-days/518815.md?page=1)