Download word docx Download MP3 Listen to MP3 online
Read below for script, questions and answers.
5¼ inch floppy disk
All right, good morning everybody. Today I want to talk to you about something I found in my desk drawer, that I find quite interesting. This. Any idea what that is? Well, it’s a five and a quarter inch floppy disk. Why is it called a five and a quarter (5¼) inch floppy disk? Well, firstly, it’s five and a quarter inches across. One inch is two point five four centimeters (2.54cm), so this disk is approximately thirteen point three centimeters (13.3cm) across. Secondly, it’s called a floppy disk because it’s floppy. Floppy means soft or bendy. This is a very soft disk. You cannot use these disks anymore. This disk was used to store computer data on. It can save about three hundred and twenty kilobytes (320KB) of data.
Next, we’re going up in size. This was used in about the nineteen eighties (1980s), early nineties (90s). If you are as old as me, I’m not going to tell you how old I am, if you are as old as me, then probably when you were at school, you used these in class. If you went to school in the nineteen nineties (1990s), you would have used these. This is a three and a half (3½) inch floppy disk. This is still called a floppy disk, however, it’s not floppy; it’s pretty hard. It’s called floppy, though, because the name stuck. This is a little bit bigger than this. Data size. Obviously, it’s smaller. This can save about one point three megabytes (1.3MB).
Okay? We’re going up in size. You’ve probably seen this disk, even if you’ve never used one. If you use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, any of the Microsoft programs, in the top left-hand corner of the screen the save icon is actually one of these. So even though you’ve never held one, you may have seen one. After these disappeared, we started using these. That’s a CD. CD stands for compact disc. This can hold about seven hundred megabytes (700MB) of data. Okay? So, we’re getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Now, what’s this? You’ve probably all seen one of these.
These days computers don’t come with CD drives installed, but you can still use a USB flash memory stick. This is mine. You probably all use one. This one I’ve got here is thirty-two gigabytes (32GB). They come in a whole range of sizes, from one gigabyte all the way up to hundreds of gigabytes. I first bought one of these about ten years ago and I bought one megabyte. Cost me a lot of money. Now they’re very very very cheap.
I also have this. That is a portable hard drive. It’s portable because you can move it around. This is a one terabyte (1TB) hard drive. I bought this about five years ago and, again, it was quite expensive. These days the price has come down a lot, as always happens with technology.
Now, I’ve talked about the sizes of these. What does all this mean? What is a kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte? Well, basically, what is a byte first of all. A byte is eight bits. That doesn’t really explain anything does it? What is a bit? Well, computers all work on binary. That means they process everything in zeros or ones. When you look at your computer screen, the beautiful picture of the beach that you are seeing, is actually rendered entirely in zeros and ones. So, a computer can either say yes or no, on or off. That’s it. And programmers use that binary to program all computers. Now a bit, one bit is one zero or one. That’s it. So, a byte, which is eight bits, is zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one, times zero or one. Which is basically two hundred and fifty-six (256) possible combinations of zero or one. And that is a … that is a byte. Okay?
And then we come to kilobytes. Kilo means a thousand. Kilogram. Kilometer. However, a kilobyte … a kilobyte is not actually a thousand bytes. It’s one thousand and twenty-four bytes (1024B). And then we go up to a megabyte, which is one thousand and twenty-four … one thousand and twenty-four kilobytes (1024KB). And then we go up to gigabytes, which is one thousand and twenty-four megabytes (1024MB). Then we go up to terabytes, which is one thousand and twenty-four gigabytes (1024GB). And then we go up to … do you know what’s next? PB? Petabyte. We go up to petabyte, which is one thousand and twenty-four terabytes (1024TB). So, my hard drive of one terabyte is actually not that big anymore. You can get hard drives much much bigger than this.
Okay? So, let’s compare. Here, my floppy disk, from the nineteen eighties (1980s), and here, my terabyte hard drive, from about five years ago. How much bigger is this than this? Well, a lot of numbers, but I’ve actually done the math for you, so you don’t have to worry. Now, firstly … firstly, let’s look at how much bigger this is than this. A one terabyte hard drive is thirty-one point two five (31.25) times bigger (let’s get some red chalk) thirty one point two five (31.25) times bigger than my thirty gigabyte … thirty two gigabyte (32GB) hard drive. (Thirty one point two five times.(31.25)) Okay? Then the terabyte hard drive is one thousand four hundred and twenty-eight (1,428) times bigger than my CD. Yeah? And my terabyte hard drive is how much bigger than this do you think? It’s seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand two hundred and thirty (769,230). Seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand two hundred and thirty (769,230) times bigger than this. So, how much bigger is my one terabyte hard drive than my 320-byte (320B) floppy disk? Are you ready? A big number here. It’s three million one hundred and twenty-five thousand (3,125,000). Three million one hundred and twenty-five thousand (3,125,000) times.
So, my one terabyte hard drive is three million one hundred and twenty five thousand (3,125,000) times bigger than this floppy disk. And this has happened in the space of twenty years. And this is where I get amazed. This is what I find absolutely wonderful. People who were using these at school, this was new technology. This was the top of technology. However, in twenty years, these have been superseded, in turn, by new technologies. And now this is the top, this is the best you can get. A one terabyte hard drive. In twenty years, what are we going to be using? In twenty years, how much data are we going to be saving? And this is what I love about technology. People who were using these twenty years ago, could probably not imagine or conceive of these. So, us using these now, we cannot imagine what is going to come next. And this is what I love the most about technology. And this is what I want to talk to you a lot about in the future: the fact that we cannot imagine, we cannot predict, we cannot understand what is coming in the future. Thank you.
5¼ inch floppy disk Questions
- How big is a 5¼ inch floppy disk in cm?
A: 3.3cm
B: 13.3cm
C: 33cm
D: 30.3cm
- When was a 3½ inch floppy disk used?
A: 1980s
B: 1990s
C: 2000s
D: 2010s
- Where will you have seen a 3½ inch floppy disk before?
A: At school
B: In your house
C: On a Microsoft program
D: In the 19080s
- Why is it hard to use a CD these days?
A: They aren’t big and can’t save a lot of data.
B: They are too expensive.
C: Computers don’t come with CD drives any more.
D: Shops don’t sell CDs any more.
- What is a bit?
A: 256
B: 1
C: 0
D: 0 or 1
- What comes after Megabyte?
A: Kilobyte
B: Gigabyte
C: Terabyte
D: Petabyte
- How many times bigger is the 1TB hard drive that then 3½ inch floppy disk?
A: 31.25 times
B: 1,428 times
C: 769,230 times
D: 3,125,000 times
- What is Steven’s main point?
A: New technology is much too expensive.
B: It’s easy to see what technology will come in the future.
C: We cannot imagine what technology is coming.
D: The technology we have now is the best we will ever get.
- Explain binary.
- What does Steven mean when he says, “the price has come down a lot, as always happens with technology.”
- How many times bigger is the 1TB hard drive than the 5¼ inch floppy disk? Write your answer in words and numbers.
- Write about a technology that has advanced in the same way as data storage.
- Try to imagine a piece of technology we might be using in twenty years.
5¼ inch floppy disk Questions – Answers
- B 2. B 3. C 4. C 5. D 6. B 7. C 8. C
- Explain binary.
Binary is when everything is processed in zeros or ones. A computer uses zeros or ones to render everything we see on the screen. These zeros or ones mean either yes (1) or no(0). This is binary.
- What does Steven mean when he says, “the price has come down a lot, as always happens with technology.”
He means that as technology becomes older, it gradually becomes cheaper. When new technology is introduced, it is usually extremely expensive and is only bought by a few people. As time passes, it becomes easier to make it and more people buy it, this gradually brings the price down. Then, when a new and better technology appears, the price of the old technology drops to its lowest point because now nobody wishes to buy it.
- How many times bigger is the 1TB hard drive than the 5¼ inch floppy disk? Write your answer in words and numbers.
3,125,000 times
Three million one hundred and twenty-five thousand times
- Write 100 words about a technology that has advanced in the same way as data storage.
There are many examples, but I suppose powered flight might be interesting to write about. People have tried to fly ever since they watched the birds soar in the heavens. However, it wasn’t until the late 18th century that people flew in hot air balloons. This seemed to energize people and within 60 years people were launching gliders. 128 years after the first balloon flight, the Wright brothers flew their powered plane for 259 meters. People then realized it was possible and the public got behind flight. Inventions and changes started to come thick and fast. The first jet engine was invented in 1928 and the first man flew in space by 1961. As with all technology, once the public gets behind something, and the money for research is available, the developments start to come at an exponential rate.
- Try to imagine a piece of technology we might be using in twenty years.
It is extremely hard to imagine future technology because, if you look twenty years into the past, current technology is so different as to appear alien. I think that one thing we might have in twenty years is 100% accurate face detection. Right now, airports use face recognition software, but it is not reliable. I think that this well be development and it will be 100% accurate. It will initially be developed by the American military but, once they see the potential behind it, companies such as Google will bring out their own versions. Right now, your Google search history follows you around the Internet. You searched for running shoes at home? Wherever you log on the adverts are for running shoes. But, Google can’t reach you when you are not online. Well, with facial recognition software, they could. Imagine walking down the street and all of the signboards show you adverts for running shoes? I see that in the future.