I still use floppy disks on some old tech—on a few dedicated DOS computers that still work perfectly well although it's not a daily occurrence. The O/S, drivers

I still use floppy disks on some old tech—on a few dedicated DOS computers that still work perfectly well although it's not a daily occurrence. The O/S, drivers and some apps are stored on floppies. In my experience, floppy disks are one of the most reliable forms of storage media around especially 3.5" variety, I have disks that are well over 30 years old and they are still readable and rarely have surface defects after all this time (which is more than I can say about many of my CDs and DVDs, many of which have failed). I recall whingeing to a Sony representative at a computer show when Sony first released its 3.5" disk to the effect that its capacity was far too small and the tech was too little too late. Well, Sony had the last laugh as its disks were in service for quite some years. (Prior to that I'd been using both 5.25" and 8" floppies (in fact I still have several Shugart Associates 8-inch floppy drives stored in my junk department). __ Uses for Old 3.5" Floppies: Despite that I still use floppies occasionally, I've still many surplus ones left so I've found a really effective use for them outside the computing world. Most of you at one time or other will have placed a bookshelf against a wall and because the floor is not level or the bookshelf is heavy and distorts the floorboards its back leans out from the wall at the top. Solution: 3.5" floppies make ideal packing, underneath each corner of the bookshelf at the front (and if necessary in the middle), stack between one to three floppies on top of each other to level the bookshelf. The arrangement can be made to look quite neat if you push the floppies under the bookshelf so they're flush with the front and sides (or similarly with its plinth if it has one). They work wonders in this newly-found application. Well, we live in a recycling world these days, don't we?