Credit: Pressmaster / Shutterstock The floppy disk, already abandoned by most computer users, has been pushed closer to extinction by a Sony decision to end manufacturing of the storage media this early next year. Sony, one of a handful of companies that still sells floppy disk media in Japan, will end sales of floppy disks by March 2011 due to dwindling demand. The Japanese domestic floppy disk market amounted to about 12 million disks last year, of which Sony had a 70% share, it said. A 10-pack of Sony 3.5-inch floppy disks costs $6 at a central Tokyo electronics store. [ Related: Japanese government says ‘sayonara’ to floppy disk ] Many of the remaining customers are legacy equipment users in the education and research sectors, said Sony. Demand for the disks peaked in the mid-nineties when the most popular type of floppy, the “HD” disk, offered 1.44MB of storage space, but it began to fall in the latter part of the nineties when the more durable and higher capacity CD-R and CD-RW formats reached the mass market. In contrast to the small capacity of the floppy disk, a CD could hold 650MB so offered obvious benefits to users. In recent years USB memory sticks have become popular for transporting data between computers. To put the floppy market in perspective, consider those 12 million disks sold in Japan last year. Together they can hold about 17 terabytes of data, enough to fill about 700 single-sided Blu-ray discs. Related content news brief Open AI reportedly stopped staffers from warning about security risks The AI company is alleged to have used illegal non-disclosure agreements and required employees to disclose whether they have contact with authorities. By Viktor Eriksson Jul 15, 2024 1 min Regulation Government Generative AI news brief Open AI is working on new reasoning AI technology The company's new 'Strawberry' models should not only be able to generate responses based on instructions, they also might be able to plan ahead. By Viktor Eriksson Jul 15, 2024 1 min Generative AI news OpenAI whistleblowers seek SEC probe into ‘restrictive’ NDAs with staffers OpenAI allegedly violated SEC norms by signing agreements with employees that stopped them from reporting any non-compliance to the watchdog. By Anirban Ghoshal Jul 15, 2024 3 mins Regulation Generative AI news brief Analysts expect weak demand for Apple Vision Pro The spatial computing headset's high price is believed to scare away many potential buyers. By Mikael Markander Jul 15, 2024 1 min Augmented Reality Apple Virtual Reality Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe