CallMeAl (like Alan)

Free Software Enthusiast

  • 5 Posts
  • 130 Comments
Joined 4 months ago
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Cake day: December 14th, 2025

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  • It’s always funny to me to read a history of something I lived through written by someone who didn’t. I don’t think anyone who was in the industry at the time would say the Zip drive dominated the 1990s.

    To set the scene, most people in the 90s didn’t own a computer at all and the majority of people who did own a computer never owned a zip drive. While Zip was the most successful of the Superfloppies, it was never ubiquitous. By the sales numbers, 10-15% of computer owners bought zip drives. Compare to a floppy or CDROM which is close to 100%.

    The reason it vanished quickly was simple: Zip was never that good and CDRW was much better. As soon as the prices dropped for CDRW, Zip was a goner.




  • I can imagine even an hour car ride would have seemed much more daunting

    Not at all. I started driving at the end of the 1980s. My grandfather taught me. He also taught me how do the basic car maintenance, like changing a tire and checking/refilling the fluids. In my trunk was always the spare tire+jack, a bottle of oil, a bottle of water, a toolkit, and a small empty gas can. I never needed them except the spare tire once. I never worried about getting roadside assistance.

    Me and the girl I was dating at the time used to just pick a direction and drive for an hour to see what we’d find. It was one of the best ways to get some privacy when you both live with your parents!