this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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This is interesting. The longevity of this legacy tech may be secure if they use the right channels.
SoCal happens to have a very active retro-computing scene right now, much of which is in the bay area. If they can breathe life into an Apollo Guidance Computer, bog-standard floppy drives will be a piece of cake.
On the other hand, the same scene has modern emulation for just about every (popular) legacy media format imaginable. Upgrading the drives to use SD cards and USB thumbdrives is something they could buy off the shelf today: Apple II, C64, Tandy, misc. So there's no reason to suffer through hardware failures when more reliable tech is available.
There are even commercial options out there. Example: https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/hardware/floppy-connect/
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk_hardware_emulator
That video series on restoring the Apollo computer is excellent - very smart people solving obscure challenges and taking the time to explain each step as they go. One of the best things on YouTube, and fascinating if you're the right kind of nerd.
I think that underestimates the difference between handling tech that need to keep people alive and restoring a computer that sits in a basement and is not expected to do anything more than provide cool entertainment.
Going through testing, certification, documentation and training for a USB adapter would cost millions, even if the piece was available off the shelf for 50 bucks.
The floppy is just the funny visible part of the issue, the core issue is that their whole stack has seen the dinosaurs roam free.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
breathe life into an Apollo Guidance Computer
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