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From: Christian Brandt on 28 Apr 2010 09:25
Am 27.04.2010 04:05, schrieb Andreas Kohlbach:
> The floppy was probably the most used data storage device for Commodore
> computers, especially the C64. Swapped with friends at school with the
> newest games on back then...
>
> <http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/sony-shutting-down-japanese-floppy-disk-sales-by-march-2011-kil>

High Density 3,5" has been the most widely used type of floppy, all
others have been discontinued for years and even decades:

5,25" SD: gone since the Eighties
5,25" DD: gone since the Nineties, except nanosmall and megaexpensive
numbers
5,25" HD: mostly gone, I think a single turkish company is still
manufacturing those and 8"DD in very small numbers.

3,5" DD: totally gone since the Nineties, all nowadays 3,5"DD are
either old or in fact HD.
3,5" HD: At least five companies are still producing them. Though Sony
had been controlling the market mostly. Now the remaining companies can
increase price while the numbers are going downhill even more.

Not to mention stuff like the 3"-drives, 8"

I expect you can buy new 3,5" and 5,25" HD disks for another five years
but they will become EXPENSIVE. EG up to �5/piece.

Christian Brandt
From: Lars Haugseth on 28 Apr 2010 10:34

* Christian Brandt <brandtc(a)psi5.com> wrote:
>
> 3,5" DD: totally gone since the Nineties, all nowadays 3,5"DD are
> either old or in fact HD.

This site claims to have 3,5" DS/DD floppies in stock:
http://www.floppydisks.com/items.php?itm=5&pgnum=1

(No info on when they were produced, or by whom. They
could be quite old, I guess.)

--
Lars Haugseth
From: Andreas Kohlbach on 28 Apr 2010 15:41
Christian Brandt wrote on 28. April 2010:
>
> Am 27.04.2010 04:05, schrieb Andreas Kohlbach:
>> The floppy was probably the most used data storage device for Commodore
>> computers, especially the C64. Swapped with friends at school with the
>> newest games on back then...
>>
>> <http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/26/sony-shutting-down-japanese-floppy-disk-sales-by-march-2011-kil>
>
> High Density 3,5" has been the most widely used type of floppy, all
> others have been discontinued for years and even decades:
>
> 5,25" SD: gone since the Eighties
> 5,25" DD: gone since the Nineties, except nanosmall and megaexpensive
> numbers
> 5,25" HD: mostly gone, I think a single turkish company is still
> manufacturing those and 8"DD in very small numbers.
>
> 3,5" DD: totally gone since the Nineties, all nowadays 3,5"DD are
> either old or in fact HD.
> 3,5" HD: At least five companies are still producing them. Though Sony
> had been controlling the market mostly. Now the remaining companies can
> increase price while the numbers are going downhill even more.
>
> Not to mention stuff like the 3"-drives, 8"
>
> I expect you can buy new 3,5" and 5,25" HD disks for another five years
> but they will become EXPENSIVE. EG up to �5/piece.

If they get so expensive less people will buy them. So a decreased
demand, and that would make other manufacturers to cease production is my
guess.

You might still find them on stock somewhere for some time after the
production has ended.
--
Andreas
From: David Murray on 29 Apr 2010 15:55
Well, I think it depends on the era:

In the early 1980's everybody I knew was using cassette tape.

In the mid 1980's we all had 1541 floppy drives.

By the late 1980's I knew several people that had both 1571 and 1581
drives.

Anyone who was still using a Commodore 8-bit in the 1990s most likely
had a 1581.

Soo.. Sort of depends. I had switched to Amiga by the 1990's so I was
using 3.5" floppy exclusively.
From: T.K on 13 May 2010 10:41
> This site claims to have 3,5" DS/DD floppies in stock:
> http://www.floppydisks.com/items.php?itm=5&pgnum=1
>
> (No info on when they were produced, or by whom. They
> could be quite old, I guess.)
>
> --
> Lars Haugseth

Yes, they still have them. I bought those 3.5 " DS/DD floppies from
floppydisks.com. I dont know ho has
manufactured them and when (no markings) but they seem to work fine with my
IBM ps/2.
With my Commodore 64 I have the usual 1541 disk drive.

Tuomas


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