It's taken until 2024, but Japan has finally said goodbye to floppy disks.
Once seen as a tech powerhouse, Japan has in recent years lagged in the global wave of digital transformation because of a deep resistance to change.
Up until last month, people were still asked to submit documents to the government using the outdated storage devices, with more than 1,000 regulations requiring their use, Kelly Ng reported for BBC News.
But these rules have now finally been scrapped, said Digital Minister Taro Kono. In 2021, Kono had "declared war" on floppy disks.
Almost three years later, he announced: "We have won the war on floppy disks!" Kono has made it his goal to eliminate old technology since he was appointed to the job. He had earlier also said he would "get rid of the fax machine."
Once seen as a tech powerhouse, Japan has in recent years lagged in the global wave of digital transformation because of a deep resistance to change.
For instance, workplaces have continued to favor fax machines over emails - earlier plans to remove these machines from government offices were scrapped because of pushback.
The announcement was widely discussed on Japanese social media, with one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling floppy disks a "symbol of an anachronistic administration."
But Japan is not dumping fax machines yet, just as it has agonized on how to render obsolete carved personal stamps called “hanko.”
Kommentare