NEW DELHI: In this age of fast-changing technology where leading storage guys
are talking of optical products and network storage, floppies seem a far cry.
The reality however is, floppies are still around and are likely to be there for
a while yet. Sure, they won't last forever but experts opine that the pervasive
nature of the product will ensure its survival for some more time.
Says Amkette CEO Rajiv Bapna, "The floppy has survived because it has
fulfilled the three parameters of a successful storage product: affordability,
pervasiveness, and interoperability." It is an easily available technology
and most vendors have been working on it. As a result, the cost of the
technology has come down and the volume of sales has increased. This has
resulted in the pervasiveness of the technology, which has a spiral down effect
on prices. As against this, some niche storage technologies like the Iomega's
zip drives could not sustain the pressures in the market as the technology was
kept proprietary. Therefore, vendors could not work on the technology and prices
also could not come down to take the product to the masses.
Unless a technology is cheap, it will not be able to reach the critical mass,
which is so important to push down prices. And without the mass penetration
there can be no pervasiveness. Interchangeability and inter-operability are also
important for technology to sustain. For instance, a couple of years ago, a 20
MB floppy called floptical was launched which were floppies with an optical
groove on it. But it was not operable on all platforms. Therefore, due to
restricted usage, the product could not take off. Another such feeble attempt
was the launch of a 120 MB super disk from Imation which could not take off
because it remained a niche technology.
The future of storage products is said to be in optical products like CD-R
and CD-RW. Information is stored on the CD-R by burning digital information on
the surface of a blank CD. Once burnt, the CD can only be read and not written
again. This is a disadvantage that may take its toll on the CD-R but the CD-RW
can be rewritten many times and can be read in a standard CD-ROM drive. The
technology used in CD-RW is to store information by passing light through the
CD. The CD-RW is expected to replicate the positive spiral that contributed to
the floppy’s success. The technology is stable, and with more and more
manufacturers shipping out similar products, the costs are also coming down. The
issue of interchangeability will be addressed when standardization is arrived
at. Another positive aspect of the CD-RW as a storage device is that the product
has a clear migration path to upgradability. The technology can be upgraded to
DVDs which has phenomenal storage capacity. As against the CD-RW capacity of 650
MB to 700 MB, DVDs have capacities up to 16 GB starting from 4.7 GB.
However, even CD-RW is not a mainstream product yet, since it is still an
expensive technology. Although the prices are falling fast from $200 two years
ago, the CD-RW today cost $125 and is expected to go down to $75 by next year.
According to experts, once the price of CD-RW reaches the $60 mark, it will
become a mainstream product. And till then, the floppy will rule the roost.