Why Floppy Discs and Morse Code Still Matter!

The theme for this week’s Business Week magazine was sports promotion. It tackled everything from winning teams that were “bought” (Steinbrenner’s Yankees to DeBartolo, Jr.’s 49ers) to advertising debacles such as Citigroup buying naming rights for a new stadium as the government was bailing it out…hence the name Bailout Field!! Interesting stuff.

But more germane to my life was a series of articles preceding the sports section about IT, or for us mere mortals, Information Technology. The first article dealt with “cloud” computing. That means most computer functions and storage are handled through offsite third party servers. This acts as a money saver for big business because they can buy bare bones hardware that only needs as much power and disc space to allow it to connect to these remote servers where the hard core stuff takes place. More efficiency means more bottom line revenue. Makes sense, I think!

Cloud computing is also moving down to “retail” clients like you and me who may opt for that approach to our computer functions. It is being marketed to us by Google and Amazon and just about everyone else (think access and storage for music, movies and games) as well as small businessmen like me. Carbonite offsite backup is an example.

The next article dealt with computer security, and the rapid development of super viruses that are now infecting computers. It talked about the necessity for security programs like Norton or MacAfee. It suggested common sense solutions like turning the computer off when not using it. Even in sleep mode, the bad guys can gain access. It also talked about the need for backup on a regular basis and suggested solutions like Carbonite which backs your stuff automatically as you use it for about fifty bucks a year.

But here’s the thing. Did you see the movie Independence Day? The aliens came down from the heavens to destroy the earth. The first thing they did was to destroy the communication systems leaving folks to listening to AM radios trying to find out what was going on. At the end of the movie, after the good guys figured out how to destroy the massive flying space vehicles (literally shoving an atomic bomb right up the saucer’s….you know), the only way they could communicate with other countries was through good old fashioned Morse Code. Try to find someone today that knows Morse Code…which leads me to the final phase of this discourse.

I had to get a new computer this weekend for my office. In the process of setting it up, I went to install the Carbonite backup program to protect my files, and was feeling a little smug that I knew enough to do this. But…I couldn’t get the program to work the way it should. I had to call the information telephone number to figure out how to transfer my files from one computer to another using the Carbonite system. I still couldn’t do it, and ended up doing it through my portable hard drive, which is always an interesting experience.  (BTW, notwithstanding, I highly recommend Carbonite). Quickbooks was installed using my flash drive that I carry on my key chain.

It dawned on me that I used to do those things by using a floppy disc. In fact, I keep a floppy disc drive attached to my computer to this day. You can’t beat it for ease of use and portability. Burning CD backup discs is awkward, and I don’t care what anybody says. For normal document useage, I can copy to the floppy. Take it out of my computer and take it to a file, or keep it in its own filing system. The drive doesn’t need a separate power source. It operates through the computer.

And I don’t have to worry about my cloud server being infected by some unknown virus developed by China or North Korea or Iran. And I also don’t have to worry about the aliens coming down from the heavens and paralyzing our power grid or somehow disbursing the “cloud” so we don’t have access.

We live in scary times. I back up my most important client information and my financial information, both in the cloud, on a CD, in my flash drive…and the means by which I am still the most comfortable…my floppy disc. It is easy. It is low tech. It is convenient. And it still works.  I am MOST comfortable with my floppy backup. Just like Morse Code.  On the other hand, I still listen to AM radio.