Are Zip dirves done for?

Zip drives are dead as the dodo. Killed by USB sticks and CDs/DVDs.

i.e. The storage media that are "plug and play" for practically any computer.

I would definitely get a USB stick if I were you - they're ridiculously useful (esp if you have a Mac and a PC that aren't networked together). I recommend getting as big a stick as you can afford too - preferably 1Gb.

Kap

P.S. In my opinion, the only thing keeping memory sticks (like Sony's) alive is sheer stubborness.
 
I have a professor that wants all my work on a floppy at the end of semester. Of course, I really do not think it will fit on a floppy. It might not. It will fit on a Zip disk. But then I could burn it on a CD. But that would be a wast of space. I will not hand in my USB stick.

So there are people who request floppies and probably will get a zip disk. :)
 
Cheryl-

I'm a zip supporter, and all, but in your case, I would use a CD-R. The waste of space is far outweighed by the cost savings of using a CD. Zip media is still fairly pricey.
 
Cheryl said:
I have a professor that wants all my work on a floppy at the end of semester. Of course, I really do not think it will fit on a floppy. It might not. It will fit on a Zip disk. But then I could burn it on a CD. But that would be a wast of space. I will not hand in my USB stick.

So there are people who request floppies and probably will get a zip disk. :)
Click to expand...

Problem with that is not very many people have access to a zip drive, even today when you can grab them for next to nothing. Granted, at a school they probably would...but he did ask for floppy's and most of those professor types I know would be ticked to get the 'project' in a form that wasn't prescribed by them.

In reality a CD is probably 3000 times better of a choice to move files than a ZIP (compatibility wise). Just about every computer made in the past 5 years has a CD drive...very few had ZIPs.
 
To get technical, you could hand your professor any kind of removable media and still be within the guidelines of "handing in a floppy." "Floppy" is a term used to describe any removable media: so Zip disks, 3.5" floppies, 5.25" floppies, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, Jaz disks, magneto-optical disks, the list goes on...

It's just like "Xerox" being used to mean "photocopy" or "Coke" being used to mean "soda water."

Hell, to get really technical, hand him a Zip disk. If he complains, then tell him that it is in fact a "floppy" disk, and on top of that, is identical to a 3.5" floppy disk in terms of the technology used, but with a higher capacity. That same reason is the reason that 3.5" floppy disks and Zip disks have similar failure rates -- the Zip is just the 3.5" floppy of the mid-to-late 90s.
 
Zip disks – eeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

I suppose it's unfair to blame Iomega for my woes, but the only client I ever had that used Zip disks regularly was a total A-hole! I'm SO glad that Zip disks are dead.

They did horrible things to my SCSI chain too.
 
I have a Zip drive on my PowerMac 7100 (which I can access from my other Macs via the network) and one on my SGI Indy (so I have some form of read/write media).

That being said, I hardly ever use them... specially since getting cable. :D
 
Cheryl said:
I have a professor that wants all my work on a floppy at the end of semester. Of course, I really do not think it will fit on a floppy. It might not. It will fit on a Zip disk. But then I could burn it on a CD. But that would be a wast of space. I will not hand in my USB stick.

So there are people who request floppies and probably will get a zip disk. :)
Click to expand...
CD = Waste of space.

USB stick = Don't want to hand it in, because it might not be returned.

The compromise still isn't zip - it's CD-RW.

They're cheap, reusable and work in most computer CD drives these days.

Kap
 
A CD-RW is still a waste of space --- and I probably will not get it back. So I will try to put all those papers on a floppy - and if they don't fit, it will go on a zip.

I could put it on my iDisk and have her access it. That would be the way to go. :)
But that will not follow the instructions and to get a good grade, I must follow the instructions. :(
 
you can rewrite a cdrw 999 times so there is never wasted space and you can buy one for a dollar. a cdrw holds almost 7 times the data and costs about 8$ less. not a hard choice.
 
a CD is ok, less than $0.5. Less expensive than the time required to erase a CD-RW.
 
Cheryl said:
But that will not follow the instructions and to get a good grade, I must follow the instructions. :(
Click to expand...

Then you definitely don't want to use a ZIP without consulting the professor first, because the common-term definition of floppy today is still a 3.5" diskette.
 
blue&whiteman said:
you can rewrite a cdrw 999 times so there is never wasted space and you can buy one for a dollar. a cdrw holds almost 7 times the data and costs about 8$ less. not a hard choice.
Click to expand...

Yes, it would be cheap, but I probably will never see that CD again. So I can't re use it. Wasted space = almost 2 MB of files on a CD.

So are floppies dead. Not to some people. :eek:
 
chevy said:
a CD is ok, less than $0.5. Less expensive than the time required to erase a CD-RW.
Click to expand...

toast has a quick erase that only takes about 20-30 sec. only catch is that you will also need to use toast to write it when in that state.
 
Cheryl said:
Yes, it would be cheap, but I probably will never see that CD again. So I can't re use it. Wasted space = almost 2 MB of files on a CD.

So are floppies dead. Not to some people. :eek:
Click to expand...

I agree, that's a waste of bits. But does this really endanger the planet ? I am not sure the bits are an endangered species.

A mini-CD would do it... less plastics, less petrol.
 
chevy said:
I agree, that's a waste of bits. But does this really endanger the planet ? I am not sure the bits are an endangered species.

A mini-CD would do it... less plastics, less petrol.
Click to expand...
Never actually seen a mini CD before. Can they be used in superdrives?

Kap
 
unfortunatelly mini CDs and business card CDs are not OK for use in superdrives, if you try to put one in it will get stuck. mini CDs require a CD tray
 
Cheryl said:
Yes, it would be cheap, but I probably will never see that CD again. So I can't re use it. Wasted space = almost 2 MB of files on a CD.

So are floppies dead. Not to some people. :eek:
Click to expand...
Only 2 MB? In that case, I'd zip the files up and send it to him in an email attachment.

(I used to lecture at uni and would accept assignments like this all the time)

Kap
 
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