PC World leaves floppy behind

Floppy disks have been around since the 1970s, but major UK retailer PC World has made the decision to stop selling them once its current stock has run out.

A floppy disk can hold only 1.44MB of data which means that it’s just too small to cope with the demands of digital downloads and photography.

With the increase in availability of alternative storage devices such as USB keys, rewritable CDs and memory cards, all with significantly more storage capacity, PC World feels that the floppy disks has had its day. A single memory stick can now hold 6,000 times more information than can be stored on a floppy.

The increased availability of broadband and wireless Internet connections has also contributed to the demise of small-scale removable storage devices.