Now I'm only an icon

I used to be a big deal.

I’m not the first of my kind. But I am probably the first of my kind to be widely used by the everyman and everywoman. There was perhaps a time when I was in most homes. I’m still in most homes now, but as just an imprint of my former self, quite literally. And some younger generations don’t even know who I am, even though they recognise me.

I was the first of my kind to be stylish. I came in different colours and could be used to make a statement about yourself. Otherwise, the colours just helped to tell us apart. We were durable and did a great job, but now our capacity is laughable.

I am the 3.5-inch floppy disc. But you probably know me as the ‘save’ icon. I have been reduced to a 2D image no longer relevant to the current world. But I was so ubiquitous and essential in the computer world that at least my legacy lives on in some small way. Similar to the image of the landline phone receiver, though I think that even that is starting to be replaced by an image of a smartphone. Still, I guess it is better to be remembered as something rather than nothing. You don’t see a CD as an icon. Or a USB stick.

Some of my buddies are becoming popular again with their ‘retro’ and ‘vintage’ titles. I’m looking at you vinyl records. But I don’t think that will be the case with me. With 1.44MB of storage, I am laughably incapable of handling almost any modern file. And even if I could, good luck finding a computer to plug me in to! Even my successors in the storage world, CDs and USBs, are obsolete in the world of the mighty cloud. And USBs were even more flexible in terms of storage and style than I was.

But at least I still get to be the save icon.

For now, I sit in the back of the desk drawer, waiting for it to be cleaned out and I am thrown in the bin. Waiting for the one-way trip to landfill. There is no point in hoping for a second chance at an op shop. I don’t have the appeal of others from my generation. I think it is because I am a temporary storage device. Unlike my counterparts, the vinyl, VHS, and even CDs, I was primarily used for transferring files from A to B. Yes, VHS could also be used for temporary storage, but the 'blank' guys have long gone to landfill. Or kept in a cupboard full of memories and old home movies because no one knows how to access them anymore and feels guilty about throwing them out.

The real thrill comes from using old storage devices containing permanent content and the nostalgia of using old technology to consume it. Setting up a VHS player, dusting off the vinyl, and even putting on a CD can give the rose-coloured glasses a good workout and create a fun trip down memory lane for those consuming them.

Even if someone managed to find a floppy disc drive, what would they find if they looked at me? A draft of an assignment long forgotten about, a tax return, and a couple of photos of very crappy quality (probably in 256 colours). Not much to get nostalgic over. I was popular even before computer passwords were a part of everyday life, so they aren’t even going to find the long-lost login for one of their accounts (which was probably reset or closed long ago, anyway).

I can only think of two ways to avoid the trip to landfill and oblivion.

The first is to be born anew as an art project. I could be part of a collage of old technology. I could be lined up with my colleagues to create a feature wall or backdrop, but the hard part would be finding a lot of us. Though I feel we could tell a somewhat interesting story, my brothers and sisters and I, through the writing scrawled (often in a hurry) on our fronts, describing the files we used to contain. How many of us say ‘final copy’? How many of us are simply labelled by number? Do any of us say ‘top secret’?

My second chance at a new life would be part of a museum exhibit. A look back in time at old technology. At the technology that shaped the world as it is now. Ideally, it would be a permanent exhibit, not just a temporary installation. A permanent exhibit means I will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I will have my photo taken and tagged in posts with comments like ‘OMG, I remember when I used to carry one in my bag all the time’ or ‘I remember the time I lost an assignment because the file corrupted; I was so mad’. I’d even be ok with ‘lol, look at all this old rubbish’. A temporary exhibit means I would get all the attention for a little while, but end up in the dark again. At least I’d be catalogued and not shoved in the back of a drawer. I want to think I am permanent exhibit material. I like to think of myself as one of the iconic pieces from the birth of the computer era and ‘modern technology’. I am still the ‘save’ icon after all!

But until my future is revealed, I will wait in the back of the drawer. With some rubber bands and a couple of thumbtacks, dreaming about the past and the big deal that I used to be. Waiting for the next round of spring cleaning, or decluttering, or whatever they’re calling it these days, when I will be found, and my future will be decided. Waiting to be ‘ejected’ from life in the drawer and ‘inserted’ into my new future, hopefully into an experience that will create memories worth ‘saving’.

At least I hope you'll spare me a thought next time you press 'save'.