Why Japan has ‘declared war’ on floppy disks (what’s that?)

Source: The post is based on the article “Why Japan has ‘declared war’ on floppy disks (what’s that?)” published in Indian Express on 7th September 2022

What is the News?

Japan’s Digital Ministry has announced that it will finally do away with floppy disks and other outdated technology in a bid to modernize its bureaucracy.

What are Floppy Disks?

A floppy disk is a removable disk storage device used to save computer data and programmes. They were popularly used between the 1970s and 1990s.

The first floppy disk developed by IBM was able to store about 800 KB of data which is about 0.0008 GB. To put that in perspective, today one can find hard drives with storage of up to 20 TB (20,000 GB).

When floppy disks were first introduced in the 1970s, they were considered a massive technological breakthrough. But later with the introduction of CDs, pen drives and eventually the cloud, floppy disks grew redundant in most parts of the world. 

Are Floppy Disks still used in Japan?

The Japanese government has found that about 1,900 government procedures still mandated the use of specific storage devices — including the floppy disk, CD and mini disk.

Hence, the digital minister said that the government would change its regulations, so people will be able to use online services instead.

However, he has faced tremendous pushback from several government officials who have said that the floppy offers a degree of security and authenticity that an email just cannot.