Sony HiFD
Encyclopedia
The Sony HiFD was an attempt by Sony
to replace their own aging 3.5 inch floppy disk
, which had proven successful in the late-1980s war to replace the 5.25 inch floppy disk.
The first HiFD was launched in late 1998, boasting a capacity of 150MB and backwards compatibility with 3.5 inch floppy disks. It was available in Parallel port
and ATA versions with a SCSI
version planned, but never launched. Its immediate competitors were the popular Iomega
Zip drive
, which had a capacity of 100MB and Imation's Laser-Servo LS-120 SuperDisk
, which had a capacity of 120MB and unlike the Zip disk was also backwards compatible with 720KB Double-Density and 1400KB High-Density 3.5 inch floppy disks (not with 2880KB Extra-Density disks, though). In spite of Iomega's healthy market lead, many observers confidently predicted that the HiFD would swiftly take over the market, and ultimately replace the floppy drive.
This did not happen, however. A few months after launch it emerged that the HiFD suffered from frequent crashes during read/write operations, and had a tendency of having its read rate drop into the low kilobyte per second range, effectively rendering it unusable. Initially it was thought that a new driver could solve these problems – instead, Sony issued a full recall at the start of the following year.
The HiFD was re-released in November 1999, now sporting a 200MB capacity and using a USB
connection for the external drive. However, the older 150MB disks could not be read or written to, while 720KB (DD) and 2800KB (ED) floppies were also unusable (which wasn't realistically much of an issue, but didn't help improve market perception). The whole affair gave the HiFD a reputation for being unreliable, and by this time the Zip drive now sported a 250MB capacity and CD-RW
drives were entering the mainstream. These factors doomed the second HiFD to failure.
Many people compared the HiFD to Sony's Betamax
videotape format. However, while the failure of Betamax is often blamed on poor management, it is generally thought that HiFD would ultimately have failed no matter what Sony did - CD-R(W) had a built-in advantage with the large number of CD-ROM (reader) drives in computers (even taking into account the fact that not all CD drives could read CD-Rs and that most, early on, could not read CD-RWs), and its higher capacity. The fact that ultimately Superdisk (even as LS-240, which could read and write 240MB and 120MB media, supported 1,44MB HD floppies and could format them up to 30MB) did not survive either is seen as the greatest support for this theory.
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
to replace their own aging 3.5 inch floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
, which had proven successful in the late-1980s war to replace the 5.25 inch floppy disk.
The first HiFD was launched in late 1998, boasting a capacity of 150MB and backwards compatibility with 3.5 inch floppy disks. It was available in Parallel port
Parallel port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
and ATA versions with a SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
version planned, but never launched. Its immediate competitors were the popular Iomega
Iomega
Iomega is an American producer of consumer external, portable and networking storage hardware. Established in the 1980s, Iomega has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks. On April 8, 2008, EMC Corporation announced its plans to acquire Iomega for a consideration of US $213M...
Zip drive
Zip drive
The Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system that was introduced by Iomega in late 1994. Originally, Zip disks launched with capacities of 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and then 750 MB....
, which had a capacity of 100MB and Imation's Laser-Servo LS-120 SuperDisk
SuperDisk
The SuperDisk, sometimes marketed as LS-120 and a later variant LS-240, is a high-speed, high-capacity alternative to the 90 mm , 1.44 MB floppy disk. The Superdisk hardware was introduced by 3M's storage products group circa 1997...
, which had a capacity of 120MB and unlike the Zip disk was also backwards compatible with 720KB Double-Density and 1400KB High-Density 3.5 inch floppy disks (not with 2880KB Extra-Density disks, though). In spite of Iomega's healthy market lead, many observers confidently predicted that the HiFD would swiftly take over the market, and ultimately replace the floppy drive.
This did not happen, however. A few months after launch it emerged that the HiFD suffered from frequent crashes during read/write operations, and had a tendency of having its read rate drop into the low kilobyte per second range, effectively rendering it unusable. Initially it was thought that a new driver could solve these problems – instead, Sony issued a full recall at the start of the following year.
The HiFD was re-released in November 1999, now sporting a 200MB capacity and using a USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
connection for the external drive. However, the older 150MB disks could not be read or written to, while 720KB (DD) and 2800KB (ED) floppies were also unusable (which wasn't realistically much of an issue, but didn't help improve market perception). The whole affair gave the HiFD a reputation for being unreliable, and by this time the Zip drive now sported a 250MB capacity and CD-RW
CD-RW
A CD-RW is a rewritable optical disc. It was introduced in 1997, and was known as "CD-Writable" during development. It was preceded by the CD-MO, which was never commercially released....
drives were entering the mainstream. These factors doomed the second HiFD to failure.
Many people compared the HiFD to Sony's Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
videotape format. However, while the failure of Betamax is often blamed on poor management, it is generally thought that HiFD would ultimately have failed no matter what Sony did - CD-R(W) had a built-in advantage with the large number of CD-ROM (reader) drives in computers (even taking into account the fact that not all CD drives could read CD-Rs and that most, early on, could not read CD-RWs), and its higher capacity. The fact that ultimately Superdisk (even as LS-240, which could read and write 240MB and 120MB media, supported 1,44MB HD floppies and could format them up to 30MB) did not survive either is seen as the greatest support for this theory.