[subfay]

while impressive, I wonder where people take the time to explore ancient tech in-depth. work, family, more work. how much time do you guys have?

besides, writing a n64 emulator, yes! fixing a decades old Sun, Xerox or VT terminal, yes! emulating old 8bit cpus in JS yes!

but who wants to understand/explore a floppy drive?? no offense, curious what's so interesting about floppy drives compared to typical retro tech stuff I mentioned above?

[EvanAnderson]

I think it's helpful to know where our technology came from for multiple reasons. (It's also fun learning to me, too.)

Knowing what came before makes us better at building new (or, even better, recognizing that we might not need to build new). Our creations would frequently benefit from application of knowledge about the analogous systems that came before. There's nothing new under the sun. There is valuable analogy hiding in so many past technologies.

I want to know about trade-offs made during design, how that influenced implementation, and the lessons that were learned when the technology actually made it (or didn't make it) into use. Decisions made so many years ago shaped the technology we use today (von Neumann vs. Harvard architecture, the minutiae of compatibility in x86 and the IBM PC that dates back all the way to the early Intel 8-bit CPUs the IBM 5150, etc).

I think software, hardware, and protocol "archaeology" are going to become more necessary as more of the people who implemented early systems that are still in use today die. So, besides being interesting, I think there's a marketable skill in the act of being able to build understanding of past technology.

[reaperducer]

I often wonder the same thing.

Except that I'm envious of both their wealth of time, and ability; rather than dismissive of their desire to understand technology at its fundamental level.

[pjc50]

His rationale is right there at the beginning:

> "Being involved with retro computers, I have a few floppy disks (of the 3.5-inch variety) that I would like to preserve as faithfully as possible. Of course, I know there are dedicated devices for doing that, such as the Kryoflux or the SuperCard Pro. But it occurred to me that I already own the required hardware to capture the low-level data from a floppy disk: my Saleae Logic 8 logic analyzer."

It seems he is single, which provides a lot of time.

[llao]

It's a hobby.

Other people care about collecting small colored pieces of paper, or tweak their cars, or go on hikes, or paint.

[djmips]

No offense to OP (of this thread) but a lot of people who have an obscure but intellectually stimulating hobby wonder why other people spend so much time watching Netflix yet passing judgement on others as having 'way too much spare time'. Is it really that alien to you to find this use of time justified? Have you considered that they might be able to do this efficiently in balance with the rest of their life?

[zafka]

I understand your sentiment,and I doubt I could make the time to do this kind of exploration myself....but, and I don't think this is why they do it- I can imagine this skill could be quite valuable when someone had some data they absolutely have to get, and it is on an old set of floppies.

[WalterGR]

Different people like different things. It’s exactly how different people like to eat different foods.

For example, I like Cheerios breakfast cereal, but my brother prefers Wheaties.

> work, family, more work. how much time do you guys have?

To stick with the food analogy, someone can eat a different breakfast than another person - but spend the same amount of time doing it!

For example, it takes my brother and I the same amount of time to eat breakfast, even though I eat Cheerios and he eats Wheaties.

Also, people with different interests than you may gain extra time to pursue them by not spending their time on the web criticizing other people’s personal preferences.

[seiferteric]

Sometimes through a confluence of previous experience and knowledge, ideas that seem hard or impractical to some (even if just as technically inclined) seem straightforward and fun to others, and make for little more than a weekend project. Once and a while I have such an idea and will work on it, but other times I see projects other people do and have similar sentiments as you do.

[userbinator]

curious what's so interesting about floppy drives compared to typical retro tech stuff I mentioned above?

It's one of the most widely accessible forms of magnetic storage media that you can control at such a low level.

[KC8ZKF]

It’s the data that is on them.

[holoduke]

Some people are fortunate enough to have that. I have created a successful company and I practically don't have to work anymore. I spend my time with hobbies and traveling.

[PhasmaFelis]

What's the difference between understanding a 40-year-old CPU and understanding a floppy drive? The second is no less impractical than the first, in the modern world.

[ddingus]

Oh I don't know. The floppy seems impractical, but the CPU does not.

Those 8 bit CPUs are still being used. And that level of compute can solve a lot of problems.