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Me_irl (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/me_irl@lemmy.world
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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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