Japan's government abolishes the floppy disk
Japan's government is finally retiring the floppy disk. To this end, it has revised many regulations in recent years.
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The Japanese government is now finally abolishing the floppy disk and other removable storage devices for official processes. It has been trying to do so since 2020, but it was adjustments to numerous regulations that paved the way for the end of the floppy disk.
Japan's Digital Minister Taro Kono den finally declared a "war on disks" in 2022, including MDs and CDs. He told the Reuters news agency that the Digital Agency had deleted more than 1,000 regulations governing the use of floppy disks by the middle of last month. The digital agency was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when the government still relied on paper files.
"We won the war against floppy disks on June 28," said Kono. He is also lobbying the government to abolish fax machines and similar technologies.
In 2011, Sony was the last company to end the production of floppy disks, after which Japanese authorities used floppy disks from stocks. In 1981, the company launched the first 3.5" floppy disks on the market as an alternative to the still flexible 5.25" disks.
Old information technology is also still frequently used in German authorities. In Lower Saxony's state authorities, for example, it is estimated that around 2000 fax lines are still in use. Legal reasons in particular make it necessary to use this technology.
(mack)