My last computer died a couple of months ago, and while I was desperately trying all the possibilities available to rescue it, I had to use a floppy disk. it was the first time I’d used one in about six years. Didn’t help, the computer was completely buggered, so I broke the dry spell of floppy usage for no discernible result. My new replacement computer doesn’t have a floppy drive, so that’s that.
Not since at least 2001, when is when I got my floppyless PowerMac G4. But it’s probably been even longer - my previous Macs couldn’t burn CDs, but I had a ZIP drive and later a 2.2GB Orb drive, so didn’t have much use for floppies.
Kinda last week. I had our scale backed up (all the label info) and they tech from Hobart handed me a 3.5 inch floppy when he was done. I guess it’s a step in the right direction. Last time they did it, they gave us a casette tape.
Well, it’s this little dab of data. No sense putting a 20-k file on a 70-mb CD. Plus we make these little envelope-things to slide 'em into, taped into the front of the file folder. It’s just a nice, neat little package.
Or maybe it’s because both of the guys in that office are over 70. 
Can’t even remember. I think I used one in my first year of university (2002) to transfer some files around.
It’s been a while.
What he said… I also have some stuff that comes on a 3.5 so … :: shrug :::
I have 8-12 year old ones that read just fine. I just pulled a box off the shelf full of jpgs and it was from July -2000 and all the pictures came up just fine.
YMMV
The very last time I used floppies for a constructive purpose was July 2003. I was at my town’s library scanning some pages from a reference book, and the scanner computer was not connected to the network, and did not have a CD burner, so I had to use floppies. However, about a year ago I went through a pile of 3.5 data disks which I used in the 90s, in order to archive them on a cd. Surprise surprise, more than half of them had read errors, and some of them took 5+ minutes to copy 1MB! I just never understood how we got along with those back in the day, considering just how slow and unreliable they are.
My computer hasn’t had a working floppy drive in it since sometime in 2004. I actually still have a 5.25 combo drive (3.5 and 5.25 in one) which I’m considering putting back into my case, just for show. It really pisses me off the way that XP’s install program forces you to put third party harddrive drivers on a floppy disk, but not a cd or flash drive.
A few months ago, my wife needed something moved to her old laptop which only had a floppy drive (not even a CD-ROM). Unfortunately, none of my ancient floppies worked any more and finally we lucked out in that the laptop had a USB port. So we put the file onto my MP3 player and transfered it that way.
Soon after, I bought my wife a USB memory stick. Soon after that, I got her a new laptop for Christmas.
Just the other day. I was rebuilding a PC and it required a HDD driver on floppy. I’ll require one today too.
Every flipping month - my students pay me by direct debit from the Japanese post office and the only data they will take is on a floppy would you believe??? They did grudgingly begin allowing transfer of data by the internet and then went and banned computers connected by VOIP phone lines not the standard land line. We have optic fibre and the VOIP prefix for our phone, so bugger off, de gozaimasu.
I had to buy a USB floppy reader and it is a pain in the neck. I thought this country was supposed to be high tech?? (Wrong again.)
A year or two ago my father found a whole lot of photos on floppies - some proprietary Kodak system I think. I managed to hunt down a PC with a floppy drive but it didn’t have a CD drive so had to email the pictures to myself.
I recall last year at work someone wanted a floppy for something and no-one could find one anywhere. I discovered a box of used ones, full of work stuff, at the back of my drawer. Since none of the contents rang a bell I gave them to the searcher who then headed off, presumably to format them. Ah, those were the days.
I sold my floppy disk Mavica camera a few years ago; I used a floppy to make sure it still worked. My laptop (c. 2003) has a floppy drive. I think it was one of the last laptops to come with one.
My Sony Mavica camera (2002) uses them in addition to its Memory Stick. So there’s a bunch of floppies in my coat pocket right now.
The library I hang out at, Muhlenberg College, last fall acquired 20 or so new computers, all with floppy drives (and DVD RW and some other formats). The combination is nice, but the floppies-on-new-computers decision surprised me.
My work computer’s floppy drive doesn’t work and they won’t replace it so I have to really search around for someone whose drive works on the few occasions I need one.
The last time I actively used floppy disks was when I took digital pictures on a Sony Mavica. In 2003 I upgraded to an Olympus camera tha uses the XD memory card. I still have that camera and use it.
As for the last time I actually used a floppy disk, probably several months ago when I was looking for a specific file that didn’t make it onto any of my CDs.
Sometime in the last month.
Do any libraries actually allow people to use storage media on the public computers? Ours doesn’t and the public access is a lot less useful when you can’t save data from the internet.
Last week. I do schoolwork at home on a computer work gave me, then save it to a floppy, bring it to the office then email it from there to the professor.
See, the CD on my computer at home doesn’t work anymore, I don’t have any zip disks around, and I can’t get dial up to connect. What I DO have is floppy disks. So I save my work on them, bring it to work, nicely ask my IT guy to email it to me since my work computer doesn’t have a disk drive, then when I get it, I email it to the teacher.
They just got me a memory stick though, so I won’t have to do that anymore. Memory sticks are way cool.
About a year ago, for a BIOS upgrade.
I build my machine from scratch a year ago and the manufacturer had a BIOS update on their website. The only installation method is via floppy.
WTF? A floppy for a motherboard built just 18 months ago?
Yup.
I had to go out and buy a floppy just for this install. It’s not been used since.
The Allentown Public Library has allowed use of storage media for the last few years. Why the change I don’t know. There was no announcement but all of a sudden you were free to download/upload as much as you wanted. I always suspect it has to do with advances in anti-virus measures in the IT Dept. They feel capable of offering the service because they have good control. That’s just my uninformed opinion. I would be curious to know the real reason.
The public library in my parent’s hometown does, I think. Last time I was there they’d added a bunch of computers in the AV section so you could watch a movie or listen to a CD there. They even have a couple Macs with Garage Band and such on them. I don’t know if those have internet access, but I assume that they do.
About 6 weeks ago. I wanted to see if my ancient version of WordPerfect (on 9 little discs) could be installed on my new computer… and it did!
I also use them occasionally at work.