Posted on Jun 11, 2015
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Did you at one point use Jaz, Zip, or floppy disks?
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Cpl Jeff N.
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Edited >1 y ago
My first computer was me. I had a pencil and paper, not even a calculator. I removed the media when I took the pencil out of my mouth. That was about it.

I think I used my first computer (PC) when I was about 26 or 27.
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SGT John Wesley
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My first computer was a TRS-80! It used these huge floppys
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SGT John Wesley
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That thing looks like a Decepticon.
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SGT John Wesley
SGT John Wesley
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@SGT JacqueeM
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SGT John Wesley
SGT John Wesley
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@MaJ
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SFC Steven Borders
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Floppy Disk's 5-1/4 and 3.5, Zip Drives, Compact Flash, Flash Drives etc...

I have used them all. We had a a Sony Camera that used 3.5 floppy disks. LOL You could only imagine how much you could fit on it.
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The average 3.5 floppy stored only 1.44MB. What were the quality of the photos?
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SFC Steven Borders
SFC Steven Borders
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Standard size was 1024 x 768. If you did video it was 640 x 480. It was pretty good for 1997/1998. LOL
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Was the first removable media you used precede the CD (Compact Disc)?
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Punch cards - I used to code in Fortran and LRLTran (Lawrence Livermore's version of Fortran).

8" floppies Xerox 830. 5 1/4" floppies PC, etc...
LCDR Vice President
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10' floppy in an HP laptop (well more like a briefcase)
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CW5 Regimental Chief Warrant Officer
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Edited >1 y ago
I had a Commodore 64 and my school computer classes used Apple IIs and Commodore Pets. All used 5.5 floppies. My dad used punch cards and the 8 inch floppy in the Air Force.

We used 100 MB Zip disks in Korea in 2002. (And Pentium II desktops)
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CW5 Regimental Chief Warrant Officer
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The last time I actually used one was in 2007 to load the unique key in a SMART-T. That was the only tape key left. They have since changed it over. We also used them in Korea when I was there in 2002 for the remote sites that didn't have any approved electronic means but did have a vault and secure perimeter.
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Interesting. I used to teach younger Signaleers about its use, but I had no idea there were units that still utilized them. Is there an unclassified answer as to why a unit would have to use it? I've always known S-6 offices to HR an ANCD or SKL to units that didn't maintain one.
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CW5 Regimental Chief Warrant Officer
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There is no need for physical media anymore. We advanced into the world of 1995 technology now.
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. . .
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LTC Earle Bluff
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5.25 " floppies (interesting when if you bent them, you destroyed them). Proverbs 3, vs. 5 - 6
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COL John Power
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All a function of age. My first computer was a TI-90 as I recall and the storage medium was actually a personal tape recorder! Next was 5.25 floppies and on up the line. Now I mostly use the Cloud to backup the hard drive. Never use the CD.
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MSgt Superintendent
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Cassette tape to load Frogger on a Sinclair. Took about 15 minutes to complete. Not every attempt was successful- maybe 50%. That was when processor speed was measured in kHz and system memory (ram) in kb. Monitor was a 13" black/white TV.
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SGT(P) It Support Field Technician
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Commodore 64 with a cassette drive
5-1/4 inch floppy disk
3-1/2 inch not-so-floppy disk
Zip disk
Zip Plus
Jazz
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