It was only a couple of decades ago that schools were filled with floppy disks, overhead projectors, and cassette players. Today, most young students have never heard of these beloved machines. Tuition service Explore Learning recently conducted a survey at one of its learning centers, presenting 10-year-old students with four devices: a floppy disk, a cassette, an overhead projector, and a portable boombox. They found that 68% of surveyed 10-year-olds couldn’t identify the overhead projector, while 61% had no clue what a floppy disk was. Items that were once every day essentials have become mysterious relics to children in just 2-3 decades. Amazingly, despite leading the world in groundbreaking hardware, Japan still requires its citizens to submit documents stored on floppy disks through the mail. Cassettes seemed to be less of a mystery, thanks to a recent comeback for music aficionados. Other devices that seem to be a mystery to today’s children include the fax machine, portable CD player, VHS, and pager.
