ScuzzBlog: Diaries July 2019
Entry 23rd July 2019: Post 01: Zenith Data Systems - ZA-180-54.
Zenith Data Systems - ZA-180-54.
It is truly amazing just how data storage has evolved over the years
of computing. I recall my first days struggling with a tape drive
and yet today storing data is just so easy. The cost of data storage
did use to be so expensive, not only in the kit but also in the
number of disks needed to store the most basic of things. Add to
that the chance for failure and loss of data and user time in the
undertaking of tasks and you can see that data storage has been over
the years one of the largest time and money sinks.
Thankfully things are way different now and we don't actually even
need storage in a physical form on our machines as there are many
ways now to use online services to store data.
Whilst going through some items relating to MS-DOS I was again taken
by the size and weight of this floppy drive. It is part of the
Zenith Data Systems computers that I have. I placed the drive next
to a Commodore 1570 which is truly the king of 5.25" beasts that
I have and then I compared with other drives right up to the humble
USB stick. Unless you lived through the floppy era it is difficult
now to even comprehend what life was like when we had to deal with
these brutes of data storage. For me I am glad I don't have to
use them any more.
I have quite a pile of 5.25" disks and although many claim that
the floppy is probably prone to failure, I never encounter any
real problems. There is more likely to be drive issues of dust
and mechanical problems than issues with the disks themselves.
I do struggle with MS-DOS systems and disks. I know that many have
mastered the system and are fluent in its ways. For me I grew up
with CP/M and then moved from that to the pointy, clicky world of
the Amiga so I never really was troubled with MS-DOS. I do recall
the pains I went through configuring almost everything in DOS when
I first moved to Win95. Although Win95 was supposed to be the
auto install OS of the future at the time, most of the programs
were still DOS based. Maybe not the actual base application but
the sound drivers and graphics drivers they relied on were DOS based.
So I put the Zenith 5.25" floppy drive back in storage along with
the mass of floppy disks and although reflective of its worth
was very grateful that I didn't have to use it.
V I D E O S
Inserting the 5.25" floppy disk
Zenith Data Systems - ZA-180-54.
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