Floppy Disk

The US company IBM made a great breakthrough in the storage and retrieval of computer information in 1970. The IBM 3740 system could be used with a "floppy disk" - a thin, flexible plastic disc 8 inches across, covered with magnetic iron oxide.

The "floppy" was designed to be inserted into a slot in the computer which could copy data on to it or read information from it.

It was far faster than the reel to reel magnetic tapes used by older systems.