Dell

B

BBenve

Apple seeder
Dell announced today that they will stop shipping machines with floppy drive....they describe this as a huge breaktrough........well.... guess who did it first ?? lol
They are going to ship 16 MB flash drive instead of the 1.44 Floppy drive...(smart idea here though...i love flash USB drives)

Let's be all happy someone is Making HISTORY here......by...2eh em" copyiing someone and describing it as a breaktrough...


YAYYY go dell....why don't you copy something else now??
What about...SuperDrive??
 
Originally posted by BBenve
....
They are going to ship 16 MB flash drive instead of the 1.44 Floppy drive...(smart idea here though...i love flash USB drives)

....
Click to expand...
16 MB is not nearly enough. A good rule of thumb is that removeable storage should have enough capacity to boot the computer. You may use other criteria. However, it is difficult to see how 16 MB can meet any of them.
 
I believe that it is a USB dongle so you could not boot from it if you wanted to. There is a bootable CD/DVD/Whatever for the purpose of getting the thing up and running.

I figure the flash dongle is for sneaker net file transfers more than anything else. I have been known to put files on my USB camera to transfer them off my PB to a PC cause it was just the most convenient thing to do at the time.

-Eric
 
Originally posted by lurk
I believe that it is a USB dongle so you could not boot from it if you wanted to. There is a bootable CD/DVD/Whatever for the purpose of getting the thing up and running.

I figure the flash dongle is for sneaker net file transfers more than anything else. I have been known to put files on my USB camera to transfer them off my PB to a PC cause it was just the most convenient thing to do at the time.

-Eric
Click to expand...
It is a good idea to have a disk that can boot your specific configuration. As for sneaker net, I used 1.44-Base-floppy to transport files from work to home. As my files became larger and larger, that was no longer possible. Fortunately, I got a new computer at work that sported a ZIP drive. I added a ZIP drive to my home computer and I was set. 100-Base-ZIP drive still serves me well. A 16 MB drive cannot cut it, at least not for me in 2003. It is very much yesterday's technology tomorrow.
 
"Let's be all happy someone is Making HISTORY here......by...2eh em" copyiing someone and describing it as a breaktrough... "

Given the cheapness of floppy drives, and the amount of legacy drivers and software that was on floppy, holding off on eliminating the floppies was probably a wise move. Hell, if you are a PC owner who didn't want a floppy, you can always just poke the bugger out.

"YAYYY go dell....why don't you copy something else now??
What about...SuperDrive??"

Dell has been offering 4X DVD / CDRW burners for quite some time.

Regards / GulGnu

-Stabil som fan!
 
The floppy is dead. It died a long time ago. I dont loke floppys. I am very much against them. Im glad to see dell doing this, but it doesnt change the fact the Apple had the brains to do it first. Therefor, go Apple!:D
 
Macnn.com bundled this with news that Microsoft may have to lower software prices due to the popularity of the open source community. The readers had a field day with it...One suggested that Michael Dell do what he said Apple should have done years ago: liquidate everything and give the money back to the stockholders. :) I think when the cd-r and cd-r drive were released, it was only a matter of time before floppies vanished. Some computer companies (okay, well one) realized that years ago. ;)
 
they should include a ZIP instead of Floppy... much easier.
 
a zip drive is almost exactly the same as a floppy, but zip disks are more expenseve and can hold some more. I think a 16mb drive is a great ides. Nobody uses floppies to boot from, or install programs.... you would use them to carry little files to your friends house, to transfer your paper to another computer when your printer gets wrecked the night before its due etc... 16mb flash serves theese purposes perfectly, and i wouldnt mind a little usb drive.
 
MisterMe does have a point though. People used to boot Windows 3.1 - 98 off of floppy disks. Which means one should have a larger place to store these such as a cd. This usb flash drive is going to be good for a while but most pc people need to exchange their warez in at least 100 mb. Besides, if dell has had dvd/ cd-rw for a while than what usefulness does it have other than warez?
by the way, i recall sun microsystems using the cd-rw long before smell.
 
Originally posted by GulGnu
Given the cheapness of floppy drives, and the amount of legacy drivers and software that was on floppy, holding off on eliminating the floppies was probably a wise move.
Click to expand...
Yes, because:
1. Dell is a follower, not a leader.
2. Dell's boxes are so huge that they could include a legacy hamster & wheel to turn the fan and no one would notice.

hamsterwheel.jpg

animatedhamster.gif


:p
 
1. Dell is a follower, not a leader.
2. Dell's boxes are so huge that they could include a legacy hamster & wheel to turn the fan and no one would notice.

1. Since when is removing functionality that comes really cheap a huge step in the right direction?

2. Mmm. That's nice when it's time to expand em.

Regards / GulGnu

-Stabil som fan!
 
1. Yes.
2. No.

Please see dancing Hamster above.

:D

(sorry, I'm really just tired of debates like these, and my hamster post above was meant to be made in good Apple-loving humor. I just followed that persistent knee-jerk need to respond. :))
 
It's not like you couldn't buy one separately. They're still around.

'Sides, this doesn't effect you any unless you are actually about to buy a Dell anyway. :p
 
It's so lame to rip on Dell for doing this. I knew the people on this board would poke at Dell for doing something that Apple did first.

When Apple removed the drive the most popular accessory for the iMac was a floppy drive. Doesn't that make Apple out of touch?

I can't remember the last time I used a drive. I tend to have good network connectivity everywhere. So it's probably time to remove the drive now. Does this make Dell bad? I think it means that they have good timing.

Yeah, Dell doesn't really innovate, that's true. Apple's innovation is only skin deep, that's true too.

Vanguard
 
Ooooo vanguard, I sense a flame-war coming for that last comment you made. Watch your back! ;)
 
Originally posted by dlloyd
Ooooo vanguard, I sense a flame-war coming for that last comment you made. Watch your back! ;)
Click to expand...

But he is right. The floppy was going to phase out anyway. Who cares is Apple did it first.

Adding a zip drive would be an OK idea... but I think that zip will be going the way of floppy in a few years anyway.
 
Originally posted by vanguard
It's so lame to rip on Dell for doing this. I knew the people on this board would poke at Dell for doing something that Apple did first.

When Apple removed the drive the most popular accessory for the iMac was a floppy drive. Doesn't that make Apple out of touch?

I can't remember the last time I used a drive. I tend to have good network connectivity everywhere. So it's probably time to remove the drive now. Does this make Dell bad? I think it means that they have good timing.

Yeah, Dell doesn't really innovate, that's true. Apple's innovation is only skin deep, that's true too.

Vanguard
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't rip Dell for removing the 3.5 drive. I think it is a good move. Yes, Apple did it early... but SOMEONE had to do it. I don't however think it was too early. Apple is almost single-handedly responsible for the popularity of USB and firewire. They also had a lot to do with making other forms of media, such as CDR and CD-RW popular. You hear a lot of people talk about Apple being innovative. They certainly are. I wouldn't call everything they do innovative though. Much of it can be attributed to Apple being willing to take risks. Removing a floopy drive isn't really that innovative. It is a risk no one was willing to take for a looong time however.
 
Dell have just announced another move that might be seen by the Mac faithful as "following" apple: They will now be offering wireless networking as standard on some of their laptops, with the antenna built-in! I can see the flamewar starting already: "Welcome to Macintosh '99!" :p :) ;-)
 
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