A delightful romp through the surprising subcultures of an obsolete
format
This volume explores the curious afterlives of the floppy disk in the
21st century through the work of those involved with the medium today.
The book reflects on notions of obsolescence, media preservation and
nostalgia, and challenges these by showing the endurance and versatility
of this familiar piece of technology. From floppy filmmakers to floppy
painters and beyond: what drives people to continue working with the
medium that is typically deemed obsolete? What challenges and
affordances does it provide? And what does the future hold in store for
the familiar black square?
By looking at the current presence of past technology we can assess our
present-day situation and speculate on the future developments of our
media landscape. After all, the technology of the past is also part of
our future. This volume features interviews with key players in the
contemporary floppy-disk world, including not only artists and
filmmakers using floppy disks in their practice but also businessmen,
archivists and museum proprietors working to preserve the medium.
Interviewees include: Jason Scott, the founder of archive.org; Tom
Persky, founder of floppydisk.com, often dubbed the "last man standing
in the floppy disk business"; Florian Cramer; Jason Curtis, founder of
the Museum of Obsolete Media; Adam Frankiewicz, founder of Pionierska
Records; Foone Turing; Clint Basinger, creator of a YouTube channel
called Lazy Game Reviews; Nick Gentry; Joerg Droege and AJ Heller,
cofounders of the popular diskmag Scene World; and Bart van den Akker,
founder of the Helmond Computer Museum.
