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There was also the issue that one would also need a reader. Why would I buy a zip reader if no one else has one (network effect)? (Btw I never saw in my life a

There was also the issue that one would also need a reader. Why would I buy a zip reader if no one else has one (network effect)? (Btw I never saw in my life a zip reader or a zip disk.) Whereas with USB sticks all one needed was a USB port. I immediately wanted a stick.

ben_w 6mo ago
Before the first iMac arrived with only USB ports and thereby forced peripheral makers to support USB, USB just wasn't all that common even in the Windows world: why would a 1997 manufacturer bother with USB when all the machines already had all the other ports we here in 2026 find subsumed into USB? But only a few years later, as you say, USB thumb drives were making Zip drives irrelevant.
- acdha 6mo ago
  USB was slooooooow in comparison to SCSI or later FireWire, though, so that took a hardware generations to really catch on. I think the network effect was more a question of who had tons of data: for example, all of the graphic design shops had Zip or Jazz drives because they needed to schlep client deliverables around so you could just assume they had the hardware. Most people weren’t generating that much data before digital cameras became common.
- sublinear 6mo ago
  Was it really the iMac that did it? I don't think I remember anyone saying that until recent years. Around the time of the first iMac, just about every home PC already had a pair of USB 1.1 ports because of Windows 98 and a lot more plug and play support. What I recall being sold for Mac were FireWire peripherals back in the late 90s and most of the 2000s. By 2000, USB 2.0 was too good to ignore and addressed all the pain points manufacturers had with USB 1.1 being too slow. That's when I remember USB drives finally being practical and mainstream.
  - swiftcoder 6mo ago
    The iMac certainly accelerated the adoption curve. There were USB ports on other PCs, but since they also had normal (at the time) ports, no PC users were going out and buying all-new USB peripherals. Apple's decision to leave out all the other ports meant that a bunch of folks were forced to buy new USB peripherals (and/or adapters), and gave peripheral manufacturers a dedicated market for USB
    - sublinear 6mo ago
      I'm not really convinced. It seems that even Apple quickly caved in and put FireWire on the G3 iMac when they updated the design to a slot loader in 1999. I don't have anything against Apple, but USB before the 2000s was pretty bad. It seems weird that people are now thinking otherwise.
      - swiftcoder 6mo ago
        > but USB before the 2000s was pretty bad Indeed. So bad that no one apart from Apple would have tried to go all-in on it. I doubt things like USB mice and keyboards would ever have happened if Apple didn't give it a kick in the behind Firewire was indeed a nice addition when that came along, but it always remained the domain of pricey high-bandwidth devices.
        sublinear 6mo ago
        I did some more digging to find out that the infamous BSOD demo with Bill Gates on stage was meant to show off plug and play on Windows 98. It was caused by a USB scanner. This happened 4 months before the release date of the first iMac. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IW7Rqwwth84 https://youtube.com/watch?v=IW7Rqwwth84
        swiftcoder 6mo ago
        Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with any of this, I just don't think any vendor in the PC world was prepared to rip the PS/2 and serial ports off their motherboards, and tell all the peripheral manufacturers to go take a hike
acranox 6mo ago
Most of us were using Zip drives to backup our files and then put the disks on shelf. There was no cloud backup, and 100MB was often enough for all your personal files.
- masklinn 6mo ago
  It was also used by professional who needed to transfer large (for the times) amounts of data but not so much or without the technical background that high density tapes or routinely swapping hard drives was sensible (or possible): images, document scans, …
- dd82 6mo ago
  this. IIRC the internal drive plus two disks being significantly cheaper than an external hard drive of similar capacity
michaelbuckbee 6mo ago
Partially this was solved by the ZipDrive being designed for portability as well (I'm not even sure if there was ever a built in model). So if you needed to copy a large file and take it to a friends house you just took the drive with you.

ben_w 6mo ago

Before the first iMac arrived with only USB ports and thereby forced peripheral makers to support USB, USB just wasn't all that common even in the Windows world: why would a 1997 manufacturer bother with USB when all the machines already had all the other ports we here in 2026 find subsumed into USB? But only a few years later, as you say, USB thumb drives were making Zip drives irrelevant.

acdha 6mo ago
USB was slooooooow in comparison to SCSI or later FireWire, though, so that took a hardware generations to really catch on. I think the network effect was more a question of who had tons of data: for example, all of the graphic design shops had Zip or Jazz drives because they needed to schlep client deliverables around so you could just assume they had the hardware. Most people weren’t generating that much data before digital cameras became common.
sublinear 6mo ago
Was it really the iMac that did it? I don't think I remember anyone saying that until recent years. Around the time of the first iMac, just about every home PC already had a pair of USB 1.1 ports because of Windows 98 and a lot more plug and play support. What I recall being sold for Mac were FireWire peripherals back in the late 90s and most of the 2000s. By 2000, USB 2.0 was too good to ignore and addressed all the pain points manufacturers had with USB 1.1 being too slow. That's when I remember USB drives finally being practical and mainstream.
- swiftcoder 6mo ago
  The iMac certainly accelerated the adoption curve. There were USB ports on other PCs, but since they also had normal (at the time) ports, no PC users were going out and buying all-new USB peripherals. Apple's decision to leave out all the other ports meant that a bunch of folks were forced to buy new USB peripherals (and/or adapters), and gave peripheral manufacturers a dedicated market for USB
  - sublinear 6mo ago
    I'm not really convinced. It seems that even Apple quickly caved in and put FireWire on the G3 iMac when they updated the design to a slot loader in 1999. I don't have anything against Apple, but USB before the 2000s was pretty bad. It seems weird that people are now thinking otherwise.
    - swiftcoder 6mo ago
      > but USB before the 2000s was pretty bad Indeed. So bad that no one apart from Apple would have tried to go all-in on it. I doubt things like USB mice and keyboards would ever have happened if Apple didn't give it a kick in the behind Firewire was indeed a nice addition when that came along, but it always remained the domain of pricey high-bandwidth devices.
      - sublinear 6mo ago
        I did some more digging to find out that the infamous BSOD demo with Bill Gates on stage was meant to show off plug and play on Windows 98. It was caused by a USB scanner. This happened 4 months before the release date of the first iMac. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IW7Rqwwth84 https://youtube.com/watch?v=IW7Rqwwth84
        swiftcoder 6mo ago
        Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with any of this, I just don't think any vendor in the PC world was prepared to rip the PS/2 and serial ports off their motherboards, and tell all the peripheral manufacturers to go take a hike

acranox 6mo ago

Most of us were using Zip drives to backup our files and then put the disks on shelf. There was no cloud backup, and 100MB was often enough for all your personal files.

masklinn 6mo ago
It was also used by professional who needed to transfer large (for the times) amounts of data but not so much or without the technical background that high density tapes or routinely swapping hard drives was sensible (or possible): images, document scans, …
dd82 6mo ago
this. IIRC the internal drive plus two disks being significantly cheaper than an external hard drive of similar capacity

michaelbuckbee 6mo ago

Partially this was solved by the ZipDrive being designed for portability as well (I'm not even sure if there was ever a built in model). So if you needed to copy a large file and take it to a friends house you just took the drive with you.