I disagree. Firmware originally referred to things in ROM or EEPROM. Basically software that is firmly in place and doesn’t change, providing an abstraction layer between the hardware and software.
This treats the software as if it were a physical chip which can’t be practically changed due to the physics of microchips. The imutability of the storage medium is just a choice of the manufacturer. Sometimes this is a good cost saving feature and sometimes this so they can include anti-features such as preventing repairing your device (e.g. OneWheel).
I’m just telling you where the word comes from. It’s like floppy disks, the 3.5mm ones weren’t floppy but that’s still what we called them because they once were. Firmware used to be something you couldn’t easily change. It sits between the hardware and the software. What exactly would you call it if you think the term is bad?
Honestly, I think you’re wrong here, they were colloquially called floppy disks because at the time the whole thing was floppy. If the first floppy disks came in hard casings, they would never have been called floppy disks
There’s also the term Floppy Disk Drive, as opposed to Hard Disk Drive.
Diskette is a portmanteau of Disk and Cassette. The drive doesn’t read the cassette, it reads the disk inside the cassette. It doesn’t spin the cassette, it spins the disk inside the cassette. Hence Floppy Disk Drive. Sure calling the actual Disk+Cassette object as just “disk” is a little lazy, but calling it a floppy diskette is not lazy because the disk inside is floppy, and the the disk is the most important component of a diskette.
You’re splitting hairs at this point. SSDs used to be a type of hard drive, but now people reserve the term hard drive for platter disks, even though the word came from hard vs. soft storage, which was meant to distinguish between removable and non removable storage.
Zip discs aren’t called floppy despite the inside being the same as a floppy
If you search online, it’s a debated topic, but if you were alive long enough ago there wasn’t always this debate. They were floppy because the thing in your hand was floppy, people only debated it when those were no longer commonplace. IBM didn’t even call the 3.5 one a floppy, everyone else did
Nope it came from the housing, it was originally called a diskette. The disk itself isn’t really floppy tbh, more bendy. But the old diskettes were floppy af
I disagree. Firmware originally referred to things in ROM or EEPROM. Basically software that is firmly in place and doesn’t change, providing an abstraction layer between the hardware and software.
This treats the software as if it were a physical chip which can’t be practically changed due to the physics of microchips. The imutability of the storage medium is just a choice of the manufacturer. Sometimes this is a good cost saving feature and sometimes this so they can include anti-features such as preventing repairing your device (e.g. OneWheel).
I’m just telling you where the word comes from. It’s like floppy disks, the 3.5mm ones weren’t floppy but that’s still what we called them because they once were. Firmware used to be something you couldn’t easily change. It sits between the hardware and the software. What exactly would you call it if you think the term is bad?
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Honestly, I think you’re wrong here, they were colloquially called floppy disks because at the time the whole thing was floppy. If the first floppy disks came in hard casings, they would never have been called floppy disks
Take apart a 3.25" floppy disk, you’ll find the magnetic platter (disc shaped thing) is floppy.
Take apart a hard disk drive, you’ll find the magnetic platter(s) inside are metal.
If a floppy disk wasn’t named after the thing inside the casing, why wasn’t it called a floppy square or floppy rectangle?
It actually was originally a floppy diskette, but eventually shortened to disk because people are lazy
There’s also the term Floppy Disk Drive, as opposed to Hard Disk Drive.
Diskette is a portmanteau of Disk and Cassette. The drive doesn’t read the cassette, it reads the disk inside the cassette. It doesn’t spin the cassette, it spins the disk inside the cassette. Hence Floppy Disk Drive. Sure calling the actual Disk+Cassette object as just “disk” is a little lazy, but calling it a floppy diskette is not lazy because the disk inside is floppy, and the the disk is the most important component of a diskette.
You’re splitting hairs at this point. SSDs used to be a type of hard drive, but now people reserve the term hard drive for platter disks, even though the word came from hard vs. soft storage, which was meant to distinguish between removable and non removable storage.
Zip discs aren’t called floppy despite the inside being the same as a floppy
If you search online, it’s a debated topic, but if you were alive long enough ago there wasn’t always this debate. They were floppy because the thing in your hand was floppy, people only debated it when those were no longer commonplace. IBM didn’t even call the 3.5 one a floppy, everyone else did
Nope it came from the housing, it was originally called a diskette. The disk itself isn’t really floppy tbh, more bendy. But the old diskettes were floppy af
Device functionality software, which is low-level? Probably won’t win any minds.
Besides, if we (and others reading) know what concepts each other is referring to then it really doesn’t matter what word we use.
Firmware is easier to say, at a company I worked at we also called FPGAs gateware which was both interesting and convenient