We Fix Your Gadgets

FixGadgets is a computer service and support company located in Central New York. We offer support for computer problems and service for computer upgrades. We can be reached any time of the day at 631.680.7844 or fixgadgets@gmail.com

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

15th Worst Tech Ever - Iomega Zip Drive

I still own a Zip Drive and occasionally use one but the writer's at PC World think that it's one of the worst tech gadgets ever created (number #15 on the list in fact). I disagree and so do a lot of other people. Now you might argue that a Zip drive is antiquated by today's standards but back in the day, the zip drive was accessible and everyone (I knew) had one.

While some people I knew had CD-burners back in the day (mid 90's), the burner was big (the size of a computer) and very expensive. Zip drives were more accessible to the general population and made it very easy to swap large files.

I first heard about this shameful list from Retro Thing, a blog on gadgets from the past. The people who run Retro Thing, Canadians from Western Canada, have also expressed their belief that the Zip Drive was a great gadget.

The Zip Drive was great for me for two reasons:
  1. I archived my work on them
  2. I was able to transfer large files to co-workers

I'm saddened by the fact that the writers at PC World don't share the same love that many of us have had for our Zip Drives and as one commenter pointed out:

"It's interesting that the same author put the Zip drive on the 15 worst
list and also on the 50 greatest tech gadets of the past 50 years. So which is
it to be Dan Tynan? You can't think something is the best and then think it is
also the worst? make up your mind."

All I can say is that what freedom is all about, saying things even when they don't make sense. What gadgets do you guys have a love/hate relationship with?

bk_keywords:external drive, zip drive, cd burner.

2 Comments:

  • At 6/16/2006 10:45 PM, Blogger Kiltak said…

    The main reasons it's on this list is because of the famous "Click of Death" that afflicted a very high number of drives.. From one day to the other, the drive simply started clicking, and stopped working completly. Since the warranty on the thing was very bad (I think it was 3 months), most people lost their investment after a real short period of time.

    If it never happened to you, it'S probably because you were very lucky.

     
  • At 6/17/2006 12:35 PM, Blogger Evan Spiegel said…

    I do remember the 'click of death' and my own zip drive was subject to it. I was able to fix it though by opening the enclosure and tightening some of the connections.

    I thought the click problem was due to a problem with opening the slot on the disk. I messed with it for a while and was able to get it to go away.

    Regardless, back in the day my Zip went EVERYWHERE with me.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home