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Ordering

You have three choices.

1. You can use these word files that are order forms for either 100% PCW products or 30% PCW products  (right click and "save target" to download) and email it to retro.

2. Or, you can snail mail the form to:

Retro Printing &  Publishing

605 NW Fisk, #9b 

Pullman, WA 99163.

3. Also, you can call me at 1 (509) 330-1793.

Shipping for wholesale

$100.00 or under, 
buyer pays actual shipping (usually 9% to 13%).

between $100.01 and $500.00, S&H is a 9% 

over $1,000.01, S&H is free.  

International customers pay the actual cost of shipping plus any duties that might apply.  

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Vintage computers and their floppy disks and other portable data storage mediums

Note: On the back of our large writing journals and sketch books, there is a short version of this fascinating history of portable data storage mediums.   

Early computer engineers faced many challenges including building small, reliable computers that could store enough data and process it quickly for calculations and other applications.  Another challenge was finding ways to externally store data, which was extremely important for backing up data and for transferring it to other computers.  Most early computers stored very little information in their internal memory (if any at all) which made the problem of external data storage even more important to solve.  The search for small, convenient, dependable portable data storage mediums that could hold enough deal of information was elusive for 90 years.  

Paper punch cards and paper tape: Dozens of different types of portable data storage systems have been tried and many were used commercially.  Two of the most popular in the 1910s, 20s, and 30s were paper punch cards and paper tape systems.  While not extremely durable, paper was cheap and widely available when plastics and other modern materials were yet to be invented or in their infancy.  Punch cards had the advantage of being small and easy to transport, but it could take hours of feeding them  by hand one-by-one into a computer .  With paper tape, you could just throw on a reel, tell the computer to upload, and come back in the morning.  

Magnetic reel and cassette tapes: In the 50s, 60s, & 70s, magnetic reels and cassette tapes started to see used in research and office computers to store data.  The cassette tapes were the same technology as that used to store audio recordings.  While magnetic reels and cassette tapes were better technologies, paper storage mediums continued to be used as well.  Why?  One reason is that there was not the turn over in computer technology of which we are now familiar.  Computers and their data storage systems were rare and quite expensive until the late 70s, and the owners of them would often wait decades before updating their equipment.  

Eight-inch disks: In the early 70s, the first 8-inch disks became available but were not widely used until the late 1970s.  The first of these disks in the early 70s held only 1 KB of data.  When these became more widely used in 1978, 'these disks still only held about 256 KBs. 

Again, most computers were used in only research and large office applications in the 70s.  However, in the late 70s, hobbyists started to purchase some of the cheaper models such as the Radio Shack TRS-100 model 80, which is now affectionately call the “Trash 80” by collectors.  Many of the early "Trash 80s" had no hard dive.  At the end of each use, all data and programming had to be downloaded from memory onto either a 8-inch disk or a magnetic cassette tape.  

By 1981, the 8-inch floppy disks were on the way out, and were facing stiff competition from the more conveniently sized 5.25 inch disks. 

Twelve-inch floppy disks: In the mid 1970s, IBM mainframes used 12-inch floppy disks.

Five-and-one-quarter-inch floppy disks: From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, the 5.25-inch floppy disks were the dominant portable storage medium and had a capacity of 100 KB to 1.2 MB.   

Three-and-half-inch floppy disks: By 1982, the 3.5 inch disks were already giving some competition to the 5.25 inch floppy disks, and completing replaced them by end of the '90s.  The 3.5-inch disks were an improvement over the 5.25 disks because they were smaller and more durable.  Also, the data on the 3.5 inch disks was safer.  The read slots on the both the 5.25 and 8-inch disks were unprotected , and if touched the data on the disks could be easily corrupted.  The 3.5 inch disks don’t flop like the old 8 and 5.25 inchers, but we still call them floppies.  Although much better technology now exists, some people still use these 3.5-inch disks. 

CD-ROMs:  The CD was invented in 1983, but was not widely available until 1990.  These held and still holds about 650 MB of data.  

Zip disks: These have a capacity of 25 MB or 100 MB, and came into use in about 1994.   

DVD-ROMs: These disks started to become popular in about 1996, and have had a capacity from 4.7 to 17.1 GB—over 17 million times the first 8-inch floppies.  

USB flash memory sticks: These memory sticks have been the newest innovation in portable data storage mediums and hold up to 2 GB.  They became available in about 2003.