They were called floppy disks because, originally, they were literally floppy while the hard drive was, you know… Hard. 5 inch disks were flexible. 3.5 inch disks were not literally floppy, but still were called “floppy disks” given they were the same thing, but smaller and with more rigidity in the casing that held the magnetic film.
They were called floppy disks because, originally, they were literally floppy while the hard drive was, you know… Hard. 5 inch disks were flexible. 3.5 inch disks were not literally floppy, but still were called “floppy disks” given they were the same thing, but smaller and with more rigidity in the casing that held the magnetic film.