OT - Video Card Question(s)

How much of a hit would I take changing instructors this far in?

I haven't seen any. I've seen cheap ones though. (ten dollars or so
for 64 meg).

And floppies aren't free...they cost on the order of 50 cents each or more.

My last set of floppies was free. I got five hundred.

A computer that has a USB controller but does not have USB drivers installed
makes no sense whatsoever.

Meet Windows 98. I'm not completely being fair - I have used my camera
as a thumb drive, and it requires drivers to be downloaded and installed
on Windows 98 machines.

However, it is stupid to generalize that to a claim that
a floppy drive is always (or even often) a useful thing
to have on a brand-new computer.

I'm not. However I've found that obsolete devices come in handy at the
oddest times, and for those times I'm really glad I have them.

I will admit however to not needing a 5 inch drive for a while (though I
did wish I had one some years back)

frankly when most people want to
move an email message from one computer to another, they EMAIL it.

That was Apple's solution some years back. It was dumb then, it's dumb
now. It requires the internet. Floppies don't.

maybe you have some whacked out, 15-years behind the times

Hey!

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jose" wrote in message
m...
How much of a hit would I take changing instructors this far in?

I haven't seen any. I've seen cheap ones though. (ten dollars or so for
64 meg).

Uh...I think your clipboard got messed up.

In any case, $10 is cheap enough to be effectively free for a device that is
for all practical purposes, infinitely reusable. Beyond that, just look at
the Sunday flyers. If you live in any decent sized city, you've got the
usual chain stores, and they often run promotions in which a USB flash drive
is given away with something you have to buy anyway.

There are other ways to get them free, but the real point is that the cost
of the USB drive is negligible. At least as negligible as using a floppy
drive.

And floppies aren't free...they cost on the order of 50 cents each or
more.

My last set of floppies was free. I got five hundred.

If you can point me to a vendor that one can reliably get 500 floppies at no
charge, fine. Otherwise, I fail to see what your unique situation has to do
with it.

A computer that has a USB controller but does not have USB drivers
installed makes no sense whatsoever.

Meet Windows 98. I'm not completely being fair - I have used my camera as
a thumb drive, and it requires drivers to be downloaded and installed on
Windows 98 machines.

You aren't understanding. I know that Windows 98 doesn't come with USB
drivers. But a computer that has a USB device *does* come with USB drivers,
and to not install those drivers is silly. Once those drivers are
installed, you don't need additional drives specific to the make or model of
USB flash drive.

Your camera may indeed have its own unique, custom drivers that you can
install on Windows 98. But if it complies with the standard USB disk
controller specifications, the default USB drivers are sufficient.

However, it is stupid to generalize that to a claim that
a floppy drive is always (or even often) a useful thing to have on a
brand-new computer.

I'm not. However I've found that obsolete devices come in handy at the
oddest times, and for those times I'm really glad I have them.

I have found that obsolete devices only come in handy when dealing with
other obsolete devices. And as I've said, if one can actually anticipate
having to do so, that's fine. But that has nothing to do with whether Jay's
new PC needs a floppy drive, which is what's being discussed here.

frankly when most people want to move an email message from one computer
to another, they EMAIL it.

That was Apple's solution some years back. It was dumb then, it's dumb
now. It requires the internet. Floppies don't.

Huh? Apple has always had networking built in. Connect up the Appletalk
cable and you're good to go. Still, my point is that if you got the email,
you *have* the Internet. The fact that moving that email requires the
Internet is no big deal, since it's assured to be present.

On the receiving end, perhaps that's not the case, but just how important
could it be to move email from a PC with an email account to one without.
More significantly, how often would you really need to do this? If
infrequently, then use a CD. If often, then that PC really needs a network
connection.

Not only do I not move anything among our four computers using a floppy, I
have never felt that using our LAN was in any way an inconvenience, even for
the smallest of files (I think the smallest file I've ever moved was
probably only 200 bytes or so). More importantly, if someone is not in a
situation where they necessarily need to deal with obsolete hardware, then
there's no reason to buy obsolete hardware to go with their new PC.

Pete

If you can point me to a vendor that one can reliably get 500 floppies at no
charge, fine. Otherwise, I fail to see what your unique situation has to do
with it.

Well, as you say, "just look at the Sunday flyers. If you live in any
decent sized city, you've got the usual chain stores, and they often run
promotions in which..." That's how I got mine. CompUSA if I remember
right. Of course it was some five years ago, back when they were "only"
obsolete.

I know that Windows 98 doesn't come with USB
drivers. But a computer that has a USB device *does* come with USB drivers,
and to not install those drivers is silly. Once those drivers are
installed, you don't need additional drives specific to the make or model of
USB flash drive.

If I am travelling, and am faced with a Windows 98 computer, I will not
be able to use my USB device (an Olympus camera), even if other USB
devices are on the system. I will not be able to install software on
somebody else's computer.

I've yet to try it with a real thumb drive though.

Huh? Apple has always had networking built in. Connect up the Appletalk
cable and you're good to go.

One computer's upstairs. The other is downstairs. The third is across
the street. Floppies work. And the internet is hardly "assured to be
present".

More importantly, if someone is not in a
situation where they necessarily need to deal with obsolete hardware, then
there's no reason to buy obsolete hardware to go with their new PC.

I'm not telling Jay what to buy. I'm just saying not to be so quick to
eliminate the older stuff.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jose" wrote in message
...
Well, as you say, "just look at the Sunday flyers. If you live in any
decent sized city, you've got the usual chain stores, and they often run
promotions in which..." That's how I got mine. CompUSA if I remember
right. Of course it was some five years ago, back when they were "only"
obsolete.

Well, if you can find a promotion like that today, "free" seems accurate
enough. I had a hard enough time finding any vendor publishing retail
prices for floppies.

In any case, the real costs associated with the floppy aren't the disks.

If I am travelling, and am faced with a Windows 98 computer, I will not be
able to use my USB device (an Olympus camera), even if other USB devices
are on the system. I will not be able to install software on somebody
else's computer.

I've yet to try it with a real thumb drive though.

I doubt you would have any trouble, assuming the Windows 98 computer has the
standard USB drivers installed (and I don't see any reason it wouldn't). In
any case, if you are carrying data around while travelling, a CD is still a
much better option. It's not uncommon to run into a PC these days without a
floppy drive, but one without an optical drive is much less usual.

Huh? Apple has always had networking built in. Connect up the Appletalk
cable and you're good to go.

One computer's upstairs. The other is downstairs. The third is across
the street. Floppies work. And the internet is hardly "assured to be
present".

Neither is it guaranteed that the floppy drive will keep working. Still,
both are reasonably reliable, and there are much better alternatives to a
network (Internet or LAN) than floppy drives.

More importantly, if someone is not in a situation where they necessarily
need to deal with obsolete hardware, then there's no reason to buy
obsolete hardware to go with their new PC.

I'm not telling Jay what to buy. I'm just saying not to be so quick to
eliminate the older stuff.

And I'm saying one should definitely be quick to eliminate the older stuff.
For a small minority of people, there are very specific reasons to maintain
compatibility with obsolete technology. For most people, there is simply no
good reason to bother with a floppy drive, and there are modest reasons to
NOT bother.

Pete

In article ,
Jose wrote:

If you can point me to a vendor that one can reliably get 500 floppies at
no charge, fine. Otherwise, I fail to see what your unique situation
has to do with it.

I have several hundred sitting in a cabinet in my basement. I started
out with a case of them 15 years ago.

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:23:12 -0800, Peter Duniho wrote:

Once those drivers are
installed, you don't need additional drives specific to the make or model of
USB flash drive.

it shows that you never used a USB stick on a win98 machine.

#m
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
it shows that you never used a USB stick on a win98 machine.

I have. I have no idea why you would say I haven't.

In any case, the question is irrelevant to the different question of whether
one should by default choose to install a floppy drive on a new PC.

In article ,
Martin Hotze wrote:

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:23:12 -0800, Peter Duniho wrote:

Once those drivers are
installed, you don't need additional drives specific to the make or model of
USB flash drive.

it shows that you never used a USB stick on a win98 machine.

Martin is correct. Win98 machines are very finicky when it comes to USB
devices. Some work, some don't. Win98 was the first implementation of
USB. It is the combination of hardware and software that determines
whether it will work with ones system.