Week 2 - Internet History, Obselete devices and Surviving Technology

Floppy Disk vs USB


The floppy disk is defined as “a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk.”. The first floppy disk was invented in 1967 by disk storage pioneer Alan Shugart who was then under the employment of tech giant IBM.  The invention was completed at an IBM facility in San Jose California under the leadership of David L Noble.
IBM intended to use the floppy disk to replace the punched cards which they had been using since its creation in 1911. It is said that even in the early stages a single disk could hold as much memory as 3000 punched making it an incredible invention for its time. 


The floppy disk was however made obsolete with the invention of better storage devices like the Compact Disc in 1979 and the Universal Serial Bus in 1996, even though critics pointed out that the floppy disk may have been a more reliable storage device than either with industries like the airline businesses still using floppy disks to update their software.

Fax Machine vs Email
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the invention of email. A lot of people say that the inventor of the email is Ray Tomlinson while others claim that the inventor of the email is V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai, with each side vehemently claiming that they are the creator of the email for over decades with no satisfying conclusion it would not be wise to take a stand in this blog post.


However, the email enjoys a rich history of being one of the most revolutionary inventions in the field of communication far outclassing its predecessors which include the likes of the postal system and the telegraph and all that for the grand sum of nil!
The email changed the entire landscape of the written form of communication in essence with Hotmail being the first major email company to become mainstream and popular introducing it to the rest of the world who had just discovered the technology.
Even though email is no longer used as the fastest means to deliver a message with the introduction of instant messaging applications, it is NOT obsolete by any means and still holds a valuable and irreplaceable position in any competent and thriving workforce in receiving and sending important and relevant documents among one another. It is also essential to hold an email account as it almost represents an online identity that grants you access to the myriad of services available online.


References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/floppy-disk-drive1.htm
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/floppy

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36389711
https://www.inventorofemail.com/
https://www.techdirt.com/2019/05/22/laying-out-all-evidence-shiva-ayyadurai-did-not-invent-email/

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