ZUS caused a scandal by ordering PLN 130,000. 3.5″ floppy disks. In Japan they still use them

Japan has been one of the world leaders in terms of technological development for many decades. Suffice it to say that it is to the engineers from the Land of the Rising Sun that we owe such devices as a digital camera, VHS, CD-ROM, color LCD screen, laptop and Walkman. And the list could go on.

At the same time, Japan is a highly bureaucratic country. This is probably best evidenced by the fact that in this ultra-modern country, where an Internet speed record was set in 2021 (390 terabits per second!), state institutions still require entrepreneurs to provide certain documents and forms on “ancient” 3.5-inch floppy disks. and CDs.

Japan gives up on floppy disks. After over 50 years

However, this will soon change. Last week, Japan’s Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI) issued a statement,

Current law contains many provisions regarding the use of specific recording media, such as floppy disks, regarding the submission of applications and notifications

– we read in the METI announcement. As announced by the ministry, from next year it will no longer require entrepreneurs to send data on 3.5-inch floppy disks and CDs. Of course – for now – the change only applies to this specific ministry. Japan is still a long way from completely abandoning physical media.

At the end of 2022, Taro Kono, the Japanese Minister of Digital Affairs, officially “declared war” on floppy disks and other outdated technologies. Kono then presented statistics showing that approximately 1,900 government procedures still require companies to use floppy disks, CDs and other storage media. “Where can you even buy a floppy disk these days?” –

It was difficult to disagree with the head of the Japanese Ministry of Digital Affairs. Since Sony, in 2011, was the last major concern to announce the end of production of 3.5-inch floppy disks, they have become a scarce commodity in Japan.

Poland and the USA also had problems with floppy disks

Before the advent of CDs and, later, USB flash drives, the main data carrier for computers were floppy disks, i.e. small magnetic disks placed in a plastic casing. They allowed both reading and writing of information.

The first to appear in 1971 were 8-inch floppy disks, which initially had a capacity of 79.75 kB. At the end of the 1970s, however, they were replaced by 5.25″ floppy disks. Here, the capacity was 360 or 800 kB. However, the most popular became the 3.5-inch floppy disk with a capacity of 1.44 MB. At the turn of the 1980s, . and 90. 3.5″ floppy drives were installed in most PC computers.

The twilight of the format occurred somewhere in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. In 2009, Hitachi Maxell and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media ended the production of devices, and in 2011, Sony joined them.

However, in some industries the transition away from floppy disks has been quite a slow process. In Poland, in 2008, controversy was caused by the decision of the president of ZUS, who announced a tender for the supply of 130,000. 3.5-inch floppy disks with a capacity of 1.44MB. The institution’s spokesman then explained to journalists that it was cheaper to buy 130,000 diskettes than to replace 10,000. computers. It was also cheaper to use floppy disks than to have employees burn everything on CDs. And the old ZUS computers did not have recorders anyway – so they would have to be modernized at additional cost.

Until 2019, floppy disks were still in the service of the American military. In fact, they even ensured safety when it comes to the nuclear arsenal. The command center in Wyoming and several other American military centers still had computers from the 1960s and 1970s that operated old eight-inch floppy disks.