<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
removable	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
storage	O
system	O
that	O
was	O
introduced	O
by	O
Iomega	O
in	O
late	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Considered	O
medium-to-high-capacity	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
release	O
,	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
were	O
originally	O
launched	O
with	O
capacities	O
of	O
100MB	O
,	O
then	O
250MB	O
,	O
and	O
finally	O
750MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
never	O
popular	O
enough	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
fell	O
out	O
of	O
favor	O
for	O
mass	O
portable	O
storage	O
during	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
as	O
CD-RW	O
and	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
became	O
prevalent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
brand	O
later	O
covered	O
internal	O
and	O
external	O
CD	O
writers	O
known	O
as	O
Zip-650	O
or	O
Zip-CD	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
dissimilar	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
"	O
superfloppy	O
"	O
disk	B-Device
drive	I-Device
that	O
has	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
's	O
convenience	O
,	O
but	O
with	O
much	O
greater	O
capacity	O
options	O
and	O
with	O
performance	O
that	O
is	O
much	O
improved	O
over	O
a	O
standard	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disk	I-Operating_System
housings	O
are	O
much	O
thicker	O
than	O
those	O
of	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
heads	O
fly	O
in	O
a	O
manner	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
linear	O
actuator	O
uses	O
the	O
voice	B-Device
coil	I-Device
actuation	O
technology	O
related	O
to	O
modern	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disk	I-Operating_System
uses	O
smaller	O
media	O
(	O
about	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
a	O
9cm	O
(	O
-inch	O
)	O
microfloppy	O
,	O
but	O
more	O
ruggedised	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
Compact	O
Disc-sized	O
Bernoulli	O
media	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
simplified	O
drive	O
design	O
that	O
reduced	O
its	O
overall	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
has	O
a	O
maximum	O
data	O
transfer	O
rate	O
of	O
about	O
1.4MB/s	O
(	O
comparable	O
to	O
8×	O
CD-R	O
;	O
although	O
some	O
connection	O
methods	O
are	O
slower	O
,	O
down	O
to	O
approximately	O
50kB/s	O
for	O
maximum-compatibility	O
parallel	O
"	O
nibble	O
"	O
mode	O
)	O
and	O
a	O
seek	O
time	O
of	O
28ms	O
on	O
average	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
a	O
standard	O
1.44MB	O
floppy	B-Device
's	O
effective	O
≈	O
16kB/s	O
and	O
≈200ms	O
average	O
seek	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
desktop	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
from	O
mid-to-late	O
1990s	O
revolve	O
at	O
5,400	O
rpm	O
and	O
have	O
transfer	O
rates	O
from	O
3MB/s	O
to	O
10MB/s	O
or	O
more	O
,	O
and	O
average	O
seek	O
times	O
from	O
20ms	O
to	O
14ms	O
or	O
less	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early-generation	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
were	O
in	O
direct	O
competition	O
with	O
the	O
SuperDisk	B-Device
or	O
LS-120	B-Device
drives	I-Device
,	O
which	O
hold	O
20%	O
more	O
data	O
and	O
can	O
also	O
read	O
standard	O
-inch	O
1.44MB	O
diskettes	B-Device
,	O
but	O
they	O
have	O
a	O
lower	O
data-transfer	O
rate	O
due	O
to	O
lower	O
rotational	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
was	O
Iomega	O
's	O
third	O
generation	O
of	O
products	O
,	O
different	O
from	O
Iomega	O
's	O
earlier	O
Bernoulli	B-Device
Boxes	I-Device
in	O
many	O
ways	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
absence	O
of	O
the	O
Bernoulli	O
plate	O
of	O
the	O
earlier	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
were	O
produced	O
in	O
multiple	O
interfaces	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Plus	O
"	O
(	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
100MB	O
external	O
drive	O
with	O
both	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
and	O
IEEE	B-Device
1284	I-Device
connections	O
;	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
ID	O
limited	O
to	O
ID	O
5	O
and	O
6	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parallel	B-Device
port	I-Device
external	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
are	O
actually	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
drives	O
with	O
an	O
integrated	O
Parallel-to-SCSI	O
controller	O
,	O
meaning	O
a	O
true	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
bus	O
implementation	O
but	O
without	O
the	O
electrical	O
buffering	O
circuits	O
necessary	O
for	O
connecting	O
other	O
external	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
100	O
drives	O
use	O
an	O
AIC	O
7110	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
controller	O
and	O
later	O
parallel	O
drives	O
(	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
Plus	O
and	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
250	O
)	O
used	O
what	O
was	O
known	O
as	O
Iomega	O
MatchMaker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
external	O
SCSI-based	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
were	O
packaged	O
with	O
an	O
included	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
adapter	O
known	O
as	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
Zoom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
Zoom	O
is	O
a	O
relabeled	O
ISA	O
Adaptec	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
host	O
controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
originally	O
sold	O
separately	O
was	O
a	O
PCMCIA-to-SCSI	O
adapter	O
for	O
laptop	O
compatibility	O
,	O
also	O
a	O
relabeled	O
Adaptec	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Linux	B-Application
/	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
Requires	O
!	O
zip	B-Operating_System
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
must	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
a	O
drive	O
with	O
at	O
least	O
the	O
same	O
capacity	O
ability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
250MB	O
drive	O
writes	O
much	O
more	O
slowly	O
to	O
100MB	O
disks	B-Device
than	O
the	O
100MB	O
drive	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Iomega	O
software	O
is	O
unable	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
"	O
long	O
"	O
(	O
thorough	O
)	O
format	O
on	O
a	O
100MB	O
disk	B-Device
(	O
They	O
can	O
be	O
formatted	O
in	O
any	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	O
as	O
normal	O
;	O
the	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
Iomega	O
software	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
long	O
format	O
can	O
format	O
the	O
100	O
MB	O
disks	B-Device
with	O
a	O
slightly	O
higher	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
250MB	O
disks	B-Device
format	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
size	O
either	O
way	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
750MB	O
drive	O
has	O
read-only	O
support	O
for	O
100MB	O
disks	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
retroreflective	O
spot	O
differs	O
between	O
the	O
100MB	O
disk	B-Device
and	O
the	O
250MB	O
such	O
that	O
if	O
the	O
larger	O
disk	B-Device
is	O
inserted	O
in	O
a	O
smaller-capacity	O
drive	O
,	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
is	O
immediately	O
ejected	O
again	O
without	O
any	O
attempt	O
being	O
made	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
disk	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
750MB	O
disk	B-Device
has	O
no	O
reflective	O
spot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
initially	O
sold	O
well	O
after	O
their	O
introduction	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
owing	O
to	O
their	O
low	O
price	O
and	O
high	O
(	O
for	O
the	O
time	O
)	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
time	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
typically	O
had	O
a	O
capacity	O
of	O
500MB	O
and	O
cost	O
around	O
US$200	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
backing	O
up	O
with	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
was	O
very	O
economical	O
for	O
home	O
users	O
—	O
some	O
computer	O
suppliers	O
such	O
as	O
Dell	O
,	O
Gateway	O
and	O
Apple	O
Inc	O
.	O
included	O
internal	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
in	O
their	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
also	O
made	O
significant	O
inroads	O
in	O
the	O
graphic	O
arts	O
market	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
cheaper	O
alternative	O
to	O
the	O
Syquest	O
cartridge	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sales	O
of	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
and	O
disks	B-Device
declined	O
steadily	O
from	O
1999	O
to	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
had	O
a	O
relatively	O
high	O
cost	O
per	O
megabyte	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
falling	O
costs	O
of	O
then-new	O
CD-R	O
and	O
CD-RW	O
discs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
growth	O
of	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
to	O
multi-gigabyte	O
capacity	O
made	O
backing	O
up	O
with	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
less	O
economical	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
inexpensive	O
recordable	O
CD	O
and	O
DVD	O
drives	O
for	O
computers	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
,	O
pushed	O
the	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
out	O
of	O
the	O
mainstream	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nevertheless	O
,	O
during	O
their	O
prime	O
,	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
greatly	O
eased	O
the	O
exchange	O
of	O
files	O
that	O
were	O
too	O
big	O
to	O
fit	O
into	O
a	O
standard	O
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
or	O
an	O
email	O
attachment	O
,	O
and	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
high-speed	O
connection	O
to	O
transfer	O
the	O
file	O
to	O
the	O
recipient	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
1998	O
,	O
a	O
class	O
action	O
suit	O
was	O
filed	O
against	O
Iomega	O
over	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
failure	O
dubbed	O
the	O
"	O
Click	B-Error_Name
of	I-Error_Name
Death	I-Error_Name
"	O
,	O
accusing	O
Iomega	O
of	O
violation	O
of	O
the	O
Delaware	O
Consumer	O
Fraud	O
Act	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
PC	O
World	O
rated	O
the	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
as	O
the	O
15th	O
worst	O
technology	O
product	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nonetheless	O
,	O
in	O
2007	O
,	O
PC	O
World	O
rated	O
the	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
as	O
the	O
23rd	O
best	O
technology	O
product	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
despite	O
its	O
known	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
are	O
still	O
used	O
today	O
by	O
retro-computing	O
enthusiasts	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
to	O
transfer	O
large	O
amounts	O
(	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
retro	O
hardware	O
)	O
of	O
data	O
between	O
modern	O
and	O
older	O
computer	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Commodore-Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
,	O
and	O
"	B-Device
old	I-Device
world	I-Device
"	I-Device
Macintosh	B-Device
communities	O
often	O
use	O
drives	O
with	O
the	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
interface	O
prevalent	O
on	O
those	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
have	O
also	O
found	O
a	O
small	O
niche	O
in	O
the	O
music	O
production	O
community	O
,	O
as	O
SCSI-compatible	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drives	I-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
vintage	O
samplers	O
and	O
keyboards	O
of	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
were	O
still	O
in	O
use	O
in	O
aviation	O
until	O
at	O
least	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jeppesen	O
distributed	O
navigation	O
database	O
updates	O
,	O
and	O
Universal	O
Avionics	O
supplies	O
TAWS	B-Device
,	O
UniLink	O
and	O
Performance	O
databases	O
for	O
upload	O
into	O
flight	O
management	O
systems	O
via	O
100	O
and	O
250	O
MB	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
disks	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iomega	O
also	O
produced	O
a	O
line	O
of	O
internal	O
and	O
external	O
recordable	O
CD	O
drives	O
under	O
the	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
brand	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
ZipCD	B-Operating_System
650	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
regular	O
CD-R	O
media	O
and	O
had	O
no	O
format	O
relation	O
to	O
the	O
magnetic	O
Zip	B-Operating_System
drive	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
external	O
models	O
were	O
installed	O
in	O
a	O
Zip-drive-style	O
case	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
standard	O
USB	B-Protocol
1.1	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
released	O
an	O
open	O
standard	O
CD-R	O
drive	O
and	O
CD-RW	O
media	O
under	O
the	O
same	O
ZipCD	B-Operating_System
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
models	O
of	O
ZipCD	B-Operating_System
drives	O
were	O
relabeled	O
Philips	O
drives	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
also	O
so	O
unreliable	O
that	O
a	O
class	O
action	O
lawsuit	O
succeeded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ZipCD	B-Operating_System
650	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
record	O
onto	O
700MB	O
CDs	O
but	O
can	O
only	O
burn	O
data	O
up	O
to	O
650MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
third-party	O
firmware	O
that	O
forces	O
the	O
ZipCD	B-Operating_System
650	O
to	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
write	O
data	O
CDs	O
up	O
to	O
700MB	O
but	O
makes	O
the	O
drive	O
unstable	O
.	O
</s>
