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For the longest time, floppy disks, with the use of floppy drives, were the standard external storage device for distributing software, transferring data between computers, and creating small backups. Their limited capacity (only until KB) however, prompted innovations that would provide larger storage capacities; a lot of “super floppies” thus ensued.

The Zip disk, providing a storage capacity of 100 MB, later 250 MB, and then 750 MB, was probably the most successful of the “super floppies.” For a Zip disk to operate, a Zip drive was needed to read and transfer files to and from a computer and a Zip disk. The Zip drive can be built in to the computer of be used as an external drive, making them as portable as floppy disks.

Although the most successful of the super floppies, the Zip disk, together with the Zip drive, was not able to penetrate the market the way floppy disks did. Even during its prime, the people who used disk drives far out-weighted those who used Zip drives; also most mew computers still had built-in floppy drives and only a few had Zip drives on them. Eventually, with the falling prices of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and the introduction of large capacity Flash drives, Zip drives and Zip disks became less and less popular and became closer to obscurity. Their notorious hardware failures, termed the “click of death” also didn't help.

Today, Zip drives are still available but very few people use them; most companies are trying to phase them out. If you're interested in knowing more about Zip drives, then read the buying infomation below.

A complete GUIDE TO ZIP DRIVES is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

Source: www.articlealley.com