I heard some people say theyre the same thing, but others are adamant that they have different meanings. Which is it?

  • mkwt@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    But the floppy diskette and the “hard disks” did in fact have circular discs inside that spin around.

    I suspect that the word diskette was created as an analog to tape “cassette”.

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 months ago

      Considering “cassette” is the diminutive form of “casse” which meant “case,” this seems right. This meant that the magnetic tape was held in a “diminutive case” which was arguably true when compared to records and 8-tracks.

      So, diskettes also being magnetic, also being encased in something, and also being the diminutive form of a larger thing tracks.

      By george, I think they’ve got it.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      “-Ette” is a common diminutive used to imply that something is a smaller version of something else. Like many things, we nicked it from the French.

      Cigarette, a little cigar. Featurette, a short feature. Novelette, a miniature novel. Etc.

      So, diskette, a little disk. Quite separate from the ones spinning in your company’s mainframe at the time. Those ones were two feet in diameter locked in a steel cabinet that weighs two tons. This one can fit in your shirt pocket. You get the idea.