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I liked the old floppies. They were great for backing up personal data. They were easy to write on and store in special trays. I still haven’t discovered a con

I liked the old floppies. They were great for backing up personal data. They were easy to write on and store in special trays. I still haven’t discovered a convenient way to handle flash drives. They are to small to write on, and so I have a pile of them tossed in a box, and I have to search through them to find the right one. Anyone have a good way?

NoPicklez 4y ago
We had the same problem with floppies, yes you could write on them more easily. But we were still forced to have multiple of them stashed in draws, the same way we did with CD's. Solution is to buy a portable SSD drive and be done with it.
eternityforest 4y ago
I'm surprised they don't make NFC Floppies that look exactly like a real floppy, but store a few MB you access with NFC. Since everything is mobile first it would be a really nice way to hand someone a PDF, although credit card size is more practical. It's fast enough for a megabyte or two, and sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. I have not found any good way to keep track of flash either, aside from using fewer and larger ones so it's all in one place.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- causi 4y ago
  sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. Yeah, what the hell is with that? If I need to send files between phones I can use an app, but there's no telling when they'll stop developing it and it'll stop working. It's gotten to the point it's easer to copy a file onto my network drive and then recopy it to the destination device. When I'm away from home, though, I usually have to grab an actual USB cable.
  - cesarb 4y ago
    > > sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. > Yeah, what the hell is with that? Back in the early 2000s, we had IrDA which could easily transfer files from one device to another through OBEX. Not much later, we had the same OBEX but now on top of Bluetooth. We still have Bluetooth; it should be easy to send files between phones (and even computers) through OBEX. Last time I tried, however, it was a pain, failing more than half of the time. I gave up, and now use syncthing for that.
    - eternityforest 4y ago
      We have Nearby Share, which is awesome, but doesn't help much if the other person has an iPhone, or you've got a Windows/Linux. I expect it might be solved in a few years, as long as no Apple products are involved, but for now we're still stuck taking pictures of each other's screens if we need something fast.
- hakfoo 4y ago
  I miss old-school IM platforms. I could just see a family member online and say "Here's (link), do we want to go to this activity on the weekend", or "Here's the photo of the cat you wanted." I suppose I could host a local IRC server on a RasPi or something, but that's way more convoluted.
  - eternityforest 4y ago
    Current IM platforms work just as well for that, aside from the fact people are starting to not like Facebook and half your friends might not have it. The main problem is if you don't have cell service and need to transfer a file, or if the file is on a machine without IM set up for some reason or another.
ianburrell 4y ago
The idea I just had would be write a number on them. Should be space for two or three digits. Then keep table with contents for each number. Edit: I guess I haven’t used USB drive in while cause they don’t have place to write. Would have put label sticker on them, or printed label from machine.
- jaclaz 4y ago
  JFYI, something like that did exist (but unfortunately didn't have success): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33957246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33957246
Dalewyn 4y ago
Minimalism is trendy, especially in recent times, but there's an argument to be made that there is irreplacable usability in something being Big and Chonk. Chungus data mediums, connectors, etc. almost never go missing or break from simple daily use.
hoseja 4y ago
Buy a luggage tag if you want more surface to write on?
Diomedea 4y ago
I put each one in a tiny (2" x 3.75") reclosable plastic bag, and include a slip of paper with the details written on it. These bags are sold for use by people who do beading. I keep the bagged flash drives in a small cardboard box.

NoPicklez 4y ago

We had the same problem with floppies, yes you could write on them more easily. But we were still forced to have multiple of them stashed in draws, the same way we did with CD's. Solution is to buy a portable SSD drive and be done with it.

eternityforest 4y ago

I'm surprised they don't make NFC Floppies that look exactly like a real floppy, but store a few MB you access with NFC. Since everything is mobile first it would be a really nice way to hand someone a PDF, although credit card size is more practical. It's fast enough for a megabyte or two, and sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. I have not found any good way to keep track of flash either, aside from using fewer and larger ones so it's all in one place.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
causi 4y ago
sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. Yeah, what the hell is with that? If I need to send files between phones I can use an app, but there's no telling when they'll stop developing it and it'll stop working. It's gotten to the point it's easer to copy a file onto my network drive and then recopy it to the destination device. When I'm away from home, though, I usually have to grab an actual USB cable.
- cesarb 4y ago
  > > sending a file to someone 5 feet away is still a challenge. > Yeah, what the hell is with that? Back in the early 2000s, we had IrDA which could easily transfer files from one device to another through OBEX. Not much later, we had the same OBEX but now on top of Bluetooth. We still have Bluetooth; it should be easy to send files between phones (and even computers) through OBEX. Last time I tried, however, it was a pain, failing more than half of the time. I gave up, and now use syncthing for that.
  - eternityforest 4y ago
    We have Nearby Share, which is awesome, but doesn't help much if the other person has an iPhone, or you've got a Windows/Linux. I expect it might be solved in a few years, as long as no Apple products are involved, but for now we're still stuck taking pictures of each other's screens if we need something fast.
hakfoo 4y ago
I miss old-school IM platforms. I could just see a family member online and say "Here's (link), do we want to go to this activity on the weekend", or "Here's the photo of the cat you wanted." I suppose I could host a local IRC server on a RasPi or something, but that's way more convoluted.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  Current IM platforms work just as well for that, aside from the fact people are starting to not like Facebook and half your friends might not have it. The main problem is if you don't have cell service and need to transfer a file, or if the file is on a machine without IM set up for some reason or another.

ianburrell 4y ago

The idea I just had would be write a number on them. Should be space for two or three digits. Then keep table with contents for each number. Edit: I guess I haven’t used USB drive in while cause they don’t have place to write. Would have put label sticker on them, or printed label from machine.

jaclaz 4y ago
JFYI, something like that did exist (but unfortunately didn't have success): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33957246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33957246

Dalewyn 4y ago

Minimalism is trendy, especially in recent times, but there's an argument to be made that there is irreplacable usability in something being Big and Chonk. Chungus data mediums, connectors, etc. almost never go missing or break from simple daily use.

hoseja 4y ago

Buy a luggage tag if you want more surface to write on?

Diomedea 4y ago

I put each one in a tiny (2" x 3.75") reclosable plastic bag, and include a slip of paper with the details written on it. These bags are sold for use by people who do beading. I keep the bagged flash drives in a small cardboard box.