May 29, 2004
#109 :: Low-capacity Storage Device
The first time I saw a floppy disk, it was a 5-½-inch model, with the massive hole in the center and a capacity of something like 256 kilobytes. My Kaypro II required two of them, one in the left-hand drive to carry the CP/M operating system and Wordstar, one in the right-hand drive to carry freelance articles I would occasionally print through my dot-matrix printer, the model of which escapes me. The Kaypro II was the classic Heavy Big Object - a metal-cased "portable" computer weighing a good 30 pounds. The keyboard clamped onto the face to protect the drive bays (remember the little "eject" levers that swiveled across the slot to block further insertion and engage the write head?) It had a massive spring-mounted strap handle and slotted vents cut into the steel case. It retailed for the then-obscene price of $1,595. They called it "Darth Vader's lunchbox." When the industry graduated to these little marvels (1.3 megabytes on the high-density double-sided models!) it felt like someone had finally brought us flying cars. The little spring-loaded tin shutter, the stamped-metal drive hub embedded in the media disc, the closed face through which you couldn't see, so reminiscent of the first time I saw a BMW motorcycle with that trick one-sided rear axle. I moved on to Syquests, Zip drives, CD-R/RW, memory sticks and onboard cerebral implants. I don't know about you, but I have boxes and boxes of old applications, photos and documents on these things, and I can't bear to throw them out as long as I have a drive in the housse that can read them. Do wish I'd hung onto the Kaypro, the casualty of a yard sale. I think it sold for about $25.
