• Slowly They Modernize: A Federal Agency That Still Uses Floppy Disks
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[quote] WASHINGTON — The technology troubles that plagued the HealthCare.gov website rollout may not have come as a shock to people who work for certain agencies of the government — especially those who still use floppy disks, the cutting-edge technology of the 1980s. Every day, The Federal Register, the daily journal of the United States government, publishes on its website and in a thick booklet around 100 executive orders, proclamations, proposed rule changes and other government notices that federal agencies are mandated to submit for public inspection. So far, so good. It turns out, however, that the Federal Register employees who take in the information for publication from across the government still receive some of it on the 3.5-inch plastic storage squares that have become all but obsolete in the United States. Now government infrastructure experts are hoping that public embarrassments like the HealthCare.gov debacle will prompt a closer look at the government’s technological prowess, especially if it might mean getting rid of floppy disks. “You’ve got this antiquated system that still works but is not nearly as efficient as it could be,” said Stan Soloway, chief executive of the Professional Services Council, which represents more than 370 government contractors. “Companies that work with the government, whether longstanding or newcomers, are all hamstrung by the same limitations.” The use of floppy disks peaked in American homes and offices in the mid-1990s, and modern computers do not even accommodate them anymore. But The Federal Register continues to accept them, in part because legal and security requirements have yet to be updated, but mostly because the wheels of government grind ever slowly. Davita Vance-Cooks, the head of the Government Printing Office, which prints The Federal Register and publishes it online, spoke at a congressional hearing on Wednesday about her department’s attempts to make its work remain relevant in a post-print world. Despite creating mobile apps, The Federal Register still requires agencies to submit information on paper, with original signatures, though they can create a digital signature via a secured email system. Agencies are also permitted to submit the documents on CD-ROMs and floppy disks, but not on flash drives or SD cards. “The Federal Register Act says that an agency has to submit the original and two duplicate originals or two certified copies,” said Amy P. Bunk, The Federal Register’s director of legal affairs and policy. As long as an agency does that through one of the approved methods of transmission, she said, “they’ve met the statutory requirement.” But the secure email system — which uses software called Public Key Infrastructure technology — is expensive, and some government agencies have not yet upgraded to it. As a result, some agencies still scan documents on to a computer and save them on floppy disks. The disks are then sent by courier to the register.[/quote] [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/us/politics/slowly-they-modernize-a-federal-agency-that-still-uses-floppy-disks.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0[/url] Wow, still using floppy disk.
Fuck, I haven't even used optical media in my computer in years so I took out my drive. Also the cost of simply transporting the media by courier. I wonder how many floppy disks they send.
When I built my computer I included a floppy drive. Its how I play Crystal Caves.
Probably because its some legacy system running something, and they simply cannot afford to replace it.
Sometimes I think the U.S. government is just some sort of elaborate joke. :v:
There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] Five and a half inch floppy disks are dead, and all data are lost on them.
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] Because it's obsolete. It's unreliable, It's slow, It's inefficient. You answered your own question with the word obsolete.
wow this feels [URL="http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-improved-obamacare-program-released-on-35-flop,34294/"]familiar[/URL]
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] Because whatever it costs to ship those floppy disks could be done faster and with less cost over the internet. Keeping an archaic system "because it works" is backwards and pointless if the new system is better with less negatives. [editline].[/editline] I mean shit even if they had to keep that system for some reason, they could at least move on to thumb drives or external hard drives or even DVDs.
[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;43110023]When I built my computer I included a floppy drive. Its how I play Crystal Caves.[/QUOTE] There's actually a floppy drive in my computer case that's purely for show. I bought it with the intention of diving through a few hundred old floppies from the late 1990s that contain, among other things, photographs taken from a Sony Mavica that used FDs. Unfortunately, I soon realized that my mother board has no FDD connecter on it and I haven't been able to find any sort of adapter card to make it work. So obviously I need to get a USB drive, but I can't get the motivation to actually track one down, and I don't want to bother with Ebay.
I believe a lot of places in Japan have a similar problem, but rather then a lack of funding, it's because the older people who make up the majority of the population don't want to move on from fax machines and windows 98.
[QUOTE=Whomobile;43110350]I believe a lot of places in Japan have a similar problem, but rather then a lack of funding, it's because the older people who make up the majority of the population don't want to move on from fax machines and windows 98.[/QUOTE] japan's interesting because it has a lot of high tech but you also run into the problem you mentioned. in some workplaces they still use typewriters, even.
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] 1.42 megabytes on a 3.5 inch high density floppy disk is wrong for today.
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;43110410]japan's interesting because it has a lot of high tech but you also run into the problem you mentioned. in some workplaces they still use typewriters, even.[/QUOTE] It's most likely electric typewriters they're using. I do like Japan's mixture of old and modern technology being used in the office.
[QUOTE=FunnyStarRunner;43110456]It's most likely electric typewriters they're using. I do like Japan's mixture of old and modern technology being used in the office.[/QUOTE] it is definitely interesting, to say the least
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] You can fit more data on a modern disc
[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;43110023]When I built my computer I included a floppy drive. Its how I play Crystal Caves.[/QUOTE] Holy fuck yes Crystal Caves
I have a floppy drive in my new computer but I don't have the cables to run it :v:.
Well he good thing about using floppys is that the data will not vanish as fast as on writeable dvds and the like.
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] There is, even CDs would be better for speed alone. There's no reason why they should use floppy drives over CDs unless they have a program running on something before Windows 95 that simply cannot write to a CD Even then, it's slow and inefficient, and all of that costs money too. The email alternative mentioned is likely a good investment
[QUOTE=FlamingBlizza;43110219]There's nothing wrong with using floppy disks, I mean who gives a damn if its obsolete?[/QUOTE] Because my fucking phone with its onboard storage alone can hold as much information as you'd get on [B]2187[/B] floppy disks.
I like floppy disks and all, but for fuck's sake why are they still using the bloody things?! I don't use any of mine, I just keep 'em around because they're history. Win95 on six floppies! They still work, too.
They'll upgrade for Zip drives I bet.
It's funny because I still used floppy disks up until mid-2009 for school
[QUOTE=TestECull;43111406] Win95 on six floppies! They still work, too.[/QUOTE] Meanwhile you can find ISO images online that includes 95, 98, 98SE and ME and still fits on a CD (700mb).
[QUOTE=TestECull;43111406]I like floppy disks and all, but for fuck's sake why are they still using the bloody things?! [/QUOTE] Because the American public throws a shitfit over spending a bunch of money when it isn't strictly necessary to operate, and a shift like this would be a serious investment. It may cost you just a few bucks to get a disk drive and switch over, but for a federal agency there's the initial purchase cost, the setup cost across all machines, the switches in specialized software, procurement setup, maintenance, procedure re-writes, and god help you if it's a secure environment because then there's another three miles of red tape to cut through. It gets expensive very quickly. If the floppy disks do what they need them to do, then they'll keep using them until they're entirely non-viable. For people that complain about the government wasting money on fancy toys some of you sure are quick to mock an agency making the most with what it has.
[QUOTE=Killuah;43111191]Well he good thing about using floppys is that the data will not vanish as fast as on writeable dvds and the like.[/QUOTE] Hahahaha yes it will Out of 1000+ reasonably well-kept floppies I went through recently, only 20 could be formatted successfully and had all their original files intact for reading.
[QUOTE=Jookia;43110279]Five and a half inch floppy disks are dead, and all data are lost on them.[/QUOTE] I still use 8" floppies for some tasks and they have not been written to since the 70's. Using good brands (like 3M) and sensible storage procedures a floppy disk will remain readable for a good 50 years. [QUOTE=Thlis;43110287]Because it's obsolete. It's unreliable, It's slow, It's inefficient. You answered your own question with the word obsolete.[/QUOTE] There's people in this thread who recommended switching to writable CD which is even SLOWER than working with floppy. [QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;43110438]1.42 megabytes on a 3.5 inch high density floppy disk is wrong for today.[/QUOTE] Being constrained to less than a meg and a half forces employees to be as efficient as possible with their documents, presentations, and code. There is no space for unnecessary crap. [QUOTE=TestECull;43111406] Win95 on six floppies! They still work, too.[/QUOTE] That's Windows 3.1 you tool. Windows 95 came on something like 25-30 disks. [QUOTE=Craptasket;43111863]They'll upgrade for Zip drives I bet.[/QUOTE] Bernoulli's. [QUOTE=catbarf;43112249]Because the American public throws a shitfit over spending a bunch of money when it isn't strictly necessary to operate, and a shift like this would be a serious investment. It may cost you just a few bucks to get a disk drive and switch over, but for a federal agency there's the initial purchase cost, the setup cost across all machines, the switches in specialized software, procurement setup, maintenance, procedure re-writes, and god help you if it's a secure environment because then there's another three miles of red tape to cut through. It gets expensive very quickly. If the floppy disks do what they need them to do, then they'll keep using them until they're entirely non-viable. For people that complain about the government wasting money on fancy toys some of you sure are quick to mock an agency making the most with what it has.[/QUOTE] Same here. The government contractors will rob you blind. My father's office machine needed the modem replaced so he could access to regional weather loggers. Contractor charged $300 to open the lid, loosen a screw and swap the PCI card. That was ONE machine. To replace a floppy drive I can assure you will be an amazing cost.
[QUOTE=Thlis;43110287]Because it's obsolete. It's unreliable, It's slow, It's inefficient. You answered your own question with the word obsolete.[/QUOTE] Which means nobody in their right mind would steal them and any data on them.
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