Floppy disk

A removable magnetic data-storage medium consisting of a flexible disk enclosed in a protective casing. Its portability made it a common way to distribute and transfer computer files.

Magnetic recording: Data storage that represents information through patterns of magnetization in a material. A floppy disk stores bits as magnetic patterns on its coated surface.
Magnetic storage: Data storage that encodes information through magnetized regions of a material. Floppy disks belong to this broader family of storage technologies.
IBM: An American technology company that developed major computer systems and storage formats. IBM introduced the first commercial floppy disk system in 1971.
Personal computer: A general-purpose computer designed for use by one person at a time. Floppy disks became a standard way to load software and save files on personal computers.
Removable media: Data-storage media designed to be removed from a drive or device. Floppy disks helped make portable, user-swappable storage commonplace.
Floppy disk drive: A device that spins a floppy disk and reads or writes its magnetic data. The drive positions heads over the disk and converts magnetic patterns into computer data.
Diskette: A small removable magnetic disk in a protective jacket, commonly used for computer data. Diskette is another common name for the floppy disk medium.
Alan Shugart: An American engineer and executive associated with the development of disk-storage technology. His IBM team developed the early floppy disk, and he later founded Shugart Associates.
Boot disk: A removable storage medium containing files needed to start a computer. A floppy could start a computer when its installed system was unavailable or damaged.
Data portability: The ability to move digital information between devices, systems, or locations. The floppy made file transfer tangible before ubiquitous networking.

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