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Me_irl (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/me_irl@lemmy.world
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[–] 3 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I think both are technically just as valid, the use is only tradition

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    It started with branding. Like CD stands for CompactDisc which was a trademarked brand name using this logo.

    Edit: I’m wrong. There is a patent for an optical disc that precedes CD and Laserdisc and uses the word Disc on the patent

    That’s probably where disc started being used for optical storage. And disk remained being used for magnetic storage.

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  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    No one is short for discus and the other is short for diskette.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

    Disk comes from the Greek word Diskos. And Disc from the French word Disque. ^Edit^: You were right it comes from Latin Discus

    Diskette means little disk. Floppy disks existed before diskettes.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Diskette comes from cassette which had been used in photography long before describing tapes and just meant that it had a built in protective case.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    The -ette in cassette and diskette is a diminutive suffix. Cassette means little box. Casse is French for box. And thus Diskette means little disk, not disk in a protective case. IBM introduced the term to mean floppy disks smaller than their 8” floppy disks

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/cassette

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/diskette

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Cassette is a French word, diskette is not. It even says that in your links. IBM used the word for the 8in floppies too. It’s a portmanteau of disk and cassette because IBM already made hard drives and these were portable and looked a little like a photography cassette.

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