Japanese Government Retires the Floppy Disk

Last month, the Japanese Digital Agency scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing floppy disk use, except for one that applies to vehicle recycling. (Image credit: Wikipedia)

It's almost the end of floppy disk use in the industrial world.

The Japanese government finally put the remaining nail into the floppy disk coffin after two decades in a campaign to modernize bureaucracy. Last month, Japan’s Digital Agency scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing their use, except for one environmental aspect related to vehicle recycling (I'd like to know more about this vehicle recycling...). The scrapping was delayed due to the necessary time for the legal revision to be recognized, along with public opinion and procedures related to the ministerial ordinance revision.

Japan’s Digital Agency was created during the 2021 pandemic when difficulties were encountered during nationwide testing and vaccinations, which revealed that the government still relied on paper filing and outdated technology. The country’s digitalization efforts have hit a few snags along the way, including problems with a contact-tracing app and the slow adoption of Japan’s My Number digital ID card and data mishaps.

Floppy disks were introduced over 50 years ago, with the largest capacity coming in at a mere 1.44 MB of available space. To put that into perspective, the lone image used for this article comes in at 1.52 MB and wouldn’t fit on that disk without being compressed. Floppies have been in decline for the better part of 40 years since CDs were introduced to the commercial market in 1980.

Sony and Philips engineers brought about the standardization of CDs back then, and since that time, Sony continued to manufacture floppy disks until over a decade ago, as the technology was phased out in favor of digital media with high storage capacities. Coincidentally, Sony is currently cutting production of Blu-Ray discs as well, as the popular media has been in decline as a movie platform in favor of HD streaming services. With the popularity of Xbox and Play Station console systems still on the rise, there’s a good chance games will continue to be released on Blu-Ray media, at least for the short term, until Sony ceases production of the media altogether at some point in the future.

Personally, I still have a few devices that require floppy disks. I don't use them much, but they are there. An oscilloscope, for instance. 

Do you still use floppies?

Have a story tip? Message me at: http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell