![]() ![]() ![]() While the bulk of Tom’s revenue comes from hobbyists, who tend to want working disks, and artists, who probably prefer to use broken ones - his largest customers are the commercial ones. So Who’s Buying Floppies, Anyway? High-density badgelife, yo. Whereas the business was once 90% duplication and 10% floppy sales, in 2022, those percentages have flopped places, if you will. ![]() As time wore on and more companies stopped selling floppies or simply went under, the focus of Tom’s company shifted away from duplication and toward sales. In the 80s and 90s, being in this business was a bit like cranking out legal tender in the basement. Tom also owns, which is where he got his start with floppies - by duplicating them. In the course of writing a book all about yours-truly’s favorite less-than-rigid medium, authors Niek Hilkmann and Thomas Walskaar sat down to talk with Tom about what it’s like to basically sell buggy whips in the age of the electric car. My business, which used to be 90% CD and DVD duplication, is now 90% selling blank floppy disks. ![]() Who are we to argue? By the way, Tom has owned that address since approximately 1990 - evidently that’s when a cyber-squatter offered up the domain for $1,000, and although Tom scoffed at paying so much as $1 for any URL, his wife got the checkbook out, and he has had her to thank for it ever since. That delightfully Web 1.0 site is owned by Tom Persky, who fancies himself the ‘last man standing in the floppy disk business’. There, you can buy new floppies of all sizes, both new and old, recycle your disks, or send them in to get all that precious vintage stuff transferred off of them. Floppies may be big in Japan, but nostalgic and/or needful Stateside floppy enthusiasts needn’t fret - just use AOL keyword point that browser toward. ![]()
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