The Observatory’s flag is at half-mast today.
Our old friend, the floppy disk, has just received some highly upsetting news. On March 11, 2011, Sony will be pulling the plug once and for all.
It’s a sad ending for the little plasticky thing we once put on such a high pedestal.
The floppy was always on standby. It rode in our shirt pockets, adding nary an ounce. It had a playful sense of humor, hiding in places we could never find.
It packed twice as much into its muscular body as those flimsy 5.25-inch floppies ever did.
Yet still, there was always this undercurrent of disrespect.
We’d call it floppy, even though it wasn’t. We’d write on it. Messily. Then trash it because it didn’t look so good.
After years of companionship, we left it for that “other disk.” The Zip was a momentary pleasure, yet it blinded us.
Floppies were fruitful, multiplying like rabbits. They’d pay us back at the rate of $5/shoebox at garage sales and flea markets. Then one day, even the Salvation Army wouldn’t take them.
Farewell, dear friend. You deserved better than this. May you find the happiness on eBay that you were denied in that ratty case I kept next to my computer.