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• Posted July 17, 2013, 12:48 p.m. - 10 years, 9 months ago

7 Fun Uses for an Obsolete Floppy Disc Drive

Yesterday, July 16th, marked the 107th birthday of Reynold B. Johnson, known worldwide in most circles as “the Father of the disk drive”.

 

Born in America in 1906, Johnson was a pioneer in the computing world; during his long career with IBM, he invented not disk drive storage technology, but also gained over 90 patents for inventions such as automatic test scoring equipment, micro phonograph technology and the videocassette tape.

 

The work Reynold put in on the disk drive hit the computing world by storm, and from this a variety of drives were developed and used, including hard disks, floppy discs and various optical disc drives. The times have moved on since these early models came out, and replacements such as USB sticks and CDs are now more widely used (although modern laptops and mainframes still use hard disc drives, albeit a lot more technically advanced), but in honour of Johnson’s birthday, we’ve had a look at how we can still aim to integrate floppy disc drives into our world today.

 

Coasters

What better than a floppy disc to protect your desk or table from mug stains? A typical floppy disc with casing measures 3mm thick, so more than adequate to take the heat from a mug without transferring it through to the surface underneath. Additionally, the casings on these discs can easily be decorated to add a bit of colour, especially the standard grey versions, although these might fit into a corporate environment quite well.

 

Art Deco
Why not buy a selection of coloured floppies and arrange them in an artistic manner to lend a splash of flair to an office or study. Later floppy discs were made to appeal to all generations, so you can get a range including neon orange, green and pink.

 

Frisbees
On a warm Summer’s day, a game of Floppy-Frisbee might be just the thing to wake you up after lunch. If you have an outdoor area, throwing a floppy around is good fun, and the loser definitely has to make the tea round for the office afterwards.
NB Iceni accept no responsibility for any accidents caused during the game of Floppy-Frisbee

 

Posh Pen Holder

A floppy disc with the centre removed leaves a fair sized hole to help stand your pens upright, perfect especially for any posh ones in your collection. You’ll have to tape a few discs together to make it tall enough though, but the end result will look great on your desk.

 

Compact Mirror
A must for any ladies out there, why not remove the centre of the disc and replace with a small mirror to keep in your handbag as a handy compact. This way, you can check your appearance on the go and still keep the retro love alive.

 

Sticky Note Holder

Ever had too many sticky notes and nothing to stick them on? Why not use an old floppy disc to stick them onto, and keep it on your desk to see easily. Perfect storage and memo in one!

 

Plant Pots
We all like having a plant on our desk, but need a pot to put the container into, for decoration and also to stop mud going everywhere. Here’s where floppy discs come in – arrange 5 in a square with a bottom but no top, and sellotape together; you could even use coloured ones for an extra effect. Place plant in and job done :)!

Image credits: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Floppy_disk_2009_G1.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1_Postit.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lamy_2000_fountain_pen-1.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isometric_table.svg

 

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