Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has abolished the requirement for applicants to use this old magnetic media when filling out official documents.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has kept pace with changes in technology by removing the requirement for businesses to use floppy disks and CD-ROMs for official filings. The move is seen as a landmark move that will please both the business community and tech geeks.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has removed the requirement for applicants to use the old magnetic media when filling out official documents. Until last week, around 1,900 official application processes required businesses to submit floppy disks or CD-ROMs (specifically) with additional data.
The Japanese government stated in August 2022 that the days of the floppy disk were numbered. At the time, a government minister openly asked, “Where can you buy floppy disks these days?” The minister later told reporters that the rules requiring certain media to accompany official form submissions would be quickly changed.
Removing the requirement to work with old removable storage formats such as floppy disks (and CD-ROMs) from the Japanese bureaucracy would certainly be a relief to all concerned. IBM introduced the first floppy disks in 1973, more than 50 years ago. We do not know when the production of floppy disk mechanisms ceased, but Sony, the last floppy disk media manufacturer, stopped producing floppy disks more than a decade ago.
The Japanese government may take some time to update the hundreds of official procedures requiring the introduction of certain media such as floppy disks and CDs, or it may make changes immediately. However, we were able to ascertain that in 2022 there is still one viable floppy disk business operating in the U.S. This sole remaining business feeds a wide range of customers, from avionics and healthcare to embroidery, as well as hobbyists and retro-computerists.
Tom Persky, owner of US-based floppydisk.com, acknowledged that the end of the floppy disk business is near. In 2022 he said he had about four more years before he thought the floppy disk business would be over. Persky still receives about 1,000 floppy disks a day in the mail for recycling. At the time of this writing, Persky is selling new-old stock 3.5-inch disks as well as 50-packs of tested recycled disks for $19.95.
