“Floppy Disks”

c.2018 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(5-18)

Old tech.

In a place like the Ice Household, the useful nature of outdated technology is enduring. While I have a genuine need for modern tools of connectivity such as an iPhone, laptops and flat-screen TV, old rules still apply. A recent adventure on eBay proved this truism once again.

While sorting through my late father’s home office, in West Virginia, I discovered one of his venerable Brother word processors, a WP-85. Our family habits were set in the Depression Era. Thus, few items were ever discarded. Instead, everything was saved in the hope that they might one day prove to be useful in a new context. The device still had several 1.44 MB diskettes in its storage nook and one in the drive. In personal terms, I remembered having similar ‘floppy disks’ at home filled with old files.

A time worn adage says “The acorn does not fall far from the tree.” In my own version, specific to our surname, the phrase is “The cube does not fall far from the tray.”

In yonder days, I had graduated from my manual Royal KMM typewriter to a Sharp electric model purchased in the 1980’s at Fisher’s Big Wheel. But Dad advised that I try something more sophisticated. It was called a ‘word processor.’ A half-step toward becoming computer literate. He owned two or three of these products, made by the Brother company. When I bought my own at Office Max in Mentor, it was like receiving a revelation from above. My ability to sling ink suddenly took on amazing proportions. The device provided a quantum leap beyond old traditions of tapping out single sheets of paper and correcting them with white-out. I got a box of 3 ½ inch Memorex diskettes and soared forward into the future.

Now, while looking around at old disks in Dad’s office, I wondered – would it still be possible to purchase an accessory to read these funky, plastic squares?

I discussed this query over pepperoni rolls and Powerade, with my nephew, the technology wizard. He reckoned that files written on the WP-85 might be in a proprietary format sometimes used by the company, unreadable by modern equipment. (240K GCR) But I recalled that my own Brother word processor produced material that I could view on a regular computer as a text file. My conclusion was simple. Upon returning to Ohio, I decided to search for an external drive to read the old diskettes.

Days later, I checked eBay for relevant entries. It had seemed likely that such an anachronistic device might be pricey or difficult to find. But both assumptions were wrong. I discovered many USB disk drives available, at reasonable prices. One offered for $10.29 with free shipping seemed most attractive. I was able to acquire the unit in a short period of time. The disk drive came without a startup CD that had been described in its listing. Meanwhile, I heard complaints that such devices would not function with more current operating systems. But when I plugged the device into my father’s HP 4300 desktop, it worked.

I inserted a floppy from my collection. Suddenly, it was 1998 all over again. 

My own association with the local Geauga County Maple Leaf newspaper began in February of that year. I wrote columns on my own workhorse Brother machine. After a brief trial period, submitting printed pages and then the disks themselves, I was able to e-mail compositions from our household eMachine PC. This saved much time in the creative process. I continued to use the diskettes for a few years, into the early 2000’s. Then, relocation to Thompson and newer computers caused these files to disappear from memory.

Buoyed by initial success with the drive unit from eBay, I took out one of Dad’s forgotten disks. It buzzed and spun for a few seconds, then produced an error message. I tried again, with the same result. A check showed there was no information stored. My nephew had been correct. The WP-85 used Brother’s proprietary format.

I was glad to have brought the bulky beast home with other relics from Dad’s office.

Revisiting my own collection of 1.44 MB storage squares, I found a lost column of personal significance. A feature written in early September of 2001. My intention had been to offer a short biography of erstwhile Biker Lifestyle Magazine editor Bob Bitchin. My long-distance boss for five years in the 1980’s. I wanted to portray him as an outlaw hero and an anti-government rebel-in-print. A wordsmith channeling Libertarian vibes. The manuscript was intended for Keith Ball, once chief at Easyriders. But the timing could not have been less fortuitous. Two days after finishing my original version, the dreadful events of 9-11 transpired. Suddenly, the national mood turned somber. Humbled by the news, I rewrote this biography with a softer tone. It ran later on Ball’s Bikernet website, but lacked the zest of my original missive.

I posted the long-ago column on a Facebook page for ‘Biker Lifestyle – And Beyond’ which was a book that collected stories from my run with the magazine, from 1983-1988.

Afterward, my thoughts turned toward reading the old files rescued from our southern home office. Father’s word processor still had a typewriter ribbon installed over the carriage of its onboard printer. A quick check in cyberspace revealed that new cartridges were still readily available should one be needed. With a bit of luck and perhaps a user’s manual, I felt confident in being able to get his work from the device. It would be a completed circle of sorts, once more finding inspiration from my sire as I had so many years before.

Ever the student at his feet, I was learning even after he had passed into eternity.

Questions or comments about ‘Words On The Loose’ may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

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