it is an innovative country leading the way on many technological fronts. But the wheels of bureaucracy often turn incredibly slowly there. It’s gotten to the point where the government still requires businesses to disclose information about floppy disks and CD-ROMs when submitting certain official documents.
This is starting to change. Back in 2022, Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono various branches of government The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is one of the first to switch. “Under the current law, there are many provisions that require the use of special recording media such as floppy disks in relation to application and notification methods,” METI said last week. .
After this calendar year, METI will no longer require businesses to provide information on diskettes under Order 34. The same goes for CD-ROMs when it comes to an indefinite number of procedures. However, there is still a long way for businesses to stop using both formats entirely.
Kono’s staff identified nearly 1,900 protocols in several government departments that still require floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and even MiniDisks. Physical media requirements even applied to major industries such as utility suppliers, mining operations, and aircraft and weapons manufacturers.
There are several main reasons to stop using floppy disks notes. One of the main factors is that floppy disks can be hard to come by. Sony, the last major manufacturer, . Another is that some types of data simply won’t fit on a floppy disk. A single photo can easily be larger than the format’s 1.4 MB memory capacity.
There are some other industries that still use floppy disks. Some older aircraft need them, as do avionics and some older medical devices. It also took the US government stop using floppy disks to coordinate nuclear weapons launches.
