Trivia
HardIn The 1980s, Computer Hobbyists Would Double The Capacity Of Floppy Disks With?

Answer: Hole Punches
If you’re a geek of a certain vintage (and a frugal one at that), then you’ll be rather familiar with today’s bit of trivia: the use of a punch tool to double your floppy disk storage capacity.
For everyone else, a bit of explanation is in order. Back in the 1980s, floppy disks were, originally, single-sided. The disk went into the drive in one orientation and there was a little read/write protect tab on the disk that, if open, indicated to the drive that the disk was ready to be written to. Later, double-sided floppy disks were introduced and many people realized something: the single-sided disks could have been used as double-sided disks all along. All you had to do was punch a read/write notch on the other side of the disk, flip it over, and you were in business.
Sure, using a single-sided disk as a double-sided disk was risky (the sold-as-double-sided disks were usually better quality since they were designed for the extra storage and the wear and tear), but that didn’t stop a niche market from popping up: disk punches that were designed to nip a little rectangle of plastic off the sleeve of a single-sided disk and trick the drive into reading it on both sides. Such tools went by names like “Disk Doubler” or, seen here, “The Notcher”. Today, outside of a computer museum or a dusty box found in the corner of a basement or old IT building, you won’t be finding many floppy disks or disk punchers around.
More Trivia Questions
Trivia
EasyThe Primary Function Of Water Towers Is?
Trivia
HardThe Heaviest Military Tank Ever Constructed Was Nicknamed The?
Trivia
EasyWhat Fluid Is So Similar To Blood Plasma That It Can Be Used For IV Infusions?
Trivia
HardWhat Ornamental Feature Did 19th Century English Aristocrats Keep On Their Estates?
Trivia
HardThe Bite Of The Lone Star Tick Can Give The Victim Allergies To?
Trivia
Very HardBurger King Created A Towering Burger To Draw Awareness To What?
Trivia
EasyIn World War II, A Nazi Submarine Was Accidentally Sunk By?
Trivia
HardAstroturf Derives Its Name From?