The secret lies in the tremendous quantities of information that can be magnetically recorded on the floppy disk's surface -over a quarter‐million typewritten characters on today's standard 8‐inch disk. At these prices floppy disks have begun to compete with an item found in abundance in offices - paper. 1.T.C., which has approximately 35 percent of the estimated $135 million floppy disk market - which it expects to see nse to $235 million by 1981 - sells the minifloppy disks in large quantities for $1.50. In manufacturing cost the price of the the disks approaches that of audio cassettes. The product is surprisingly cheap and tough. This surface is protected from fingerprints and scratches with a square paper envelope. disk-where the grooves would be on a phonograph record of the same size -is smooth and coated with a magnetic oxide similar to that used in recording tape. Market soars for data storage device and a new version is due next year. They are thin, Mylar platters, 8 inches in diameter in the standard size the minifloppy is 5¼ inches in diameter. “Floppy” as a description of the disks is not, actually, quite accurate they really only droop. has in mind are such record‐keepers as doctors, lawyers and small businessmen. “We're advertising right to the consumer to create a demand on retailers for our product.” The particular consumers I.T.C. “The ads are just like ads for soap suds or automobiles,” says Rodney E. Most of the million floppy disks sold each month still move through traditional industry distribution channels for data‐processing supplies, but this year they have begun invading such odd outlets for computer supplies as camera shops, department stores and stereo dealers. This year sales of disks - which typically cost $5 to $8 apiece - are expected to reach $135 million, up from $96 million in 1977 sales of the disk drives, which hit $289.6 million last year, are expected to increase by about 75 percent. Its drive is to the disk what a recordplayer is to a record. The floppy stores information, serving as a magnetic “memory” for typewriters and word‐processing devices. Two signs of its rejuvenation: a new popularity in the consumer market and the entry of Xerox into the fold. Some analysts see the floppy as a candidate to be the cornerstone of the office of the future. LOS ANGELES - The floppy disk and its associated drive, once ugly ducklings among computer technologies, have suddenly come into their own this year - and there are indications that a new version due out in 1979 may make the past mere prologue.
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