They were called floppy disks because, originally, they were literally floppy while the hard drive was, you know… Hard. 5 inch disks were flexible. 3.5 inch disks were not literally floppy, but still were called “floppy disks” given they were the same thing, but smaller and with more rigidity in the casing that held the magnetic film.
Gates didn’t name it AFAIK. From wikipedia:
“Allen came up with the original name of Micro-Soft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software. Hyphenated in its early incarnations,”
It only recently occurred to me the literal meaning of floppy vs. hard disk and the distinction between soft-, firm- and hardware.
I thought they were called floppy because of those old ones that were you know… Floppy, in difference to the hard disks inside the tower.
They were called floppy disks because, originally, they were literally floppy while the hard drive was, you know… Hard. 5 inch disks were flexible. 3.5 inch disks were not literally floppy, but still were called “floppy disks” given they were the same thing, but smaller and with more rigidity in the casing that held the magnetic film.
Wait until you hear why Bill Gates called the company “Micro-soft”…
Gates didn’t name it AFAIK. From wikipedia: “Allen came up with the original name of Micro-Soft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software. Hyphenated in its early incarnations,”
Guess I’ll have to tell it…
After Bill and Melinda Gates have their honeymoon, Melinda turns and says, “Now I know why you call it Micro-Soft”.
🥁🛎️
Ah, just a bad dick joke. Got ya.