Killed By Zip: The Rise and Fall of SyQuest
9,183In the 80s and early 90s, when people needed to make their data portable and a floppy disk wouldn't do, they often used a SyQuest drive. But in 1994, that all changed.
Sources:
Syed Iftikar photo: https://www.storagenewsletter.com/2020/09/07/history-1993-exclusive-interview-with-syed-iftikar-founder-chairman-president-and-ceo-of-syquest
"Industry hails SyQuest's 3.9-inch hard-disk drive," InfoWorld, December 20, 1982.
Seagate ST-225 photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seagate_ST-225.jpg
Computer Chronicles, "Desktop Publishing, Part 1": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1xrbwjni8
"The Bernoulli Solution," PC Magazine, September 18, 1984.
"The Box Is Full of Air," InfoWorld, July 29, 1985.
"Iomega Expands Disk Drive Family With Bernoulli Box II," InfoWorld, September 7, 1987.
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Storage product comparison, InfoWorld, April 2, 1990.
SyQuest 200MB cartridge photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Syquest-200mb-cartridge_hg.jpg
"Iomega adds Zip to the storage market," InfoWorld, April 10, 1995.
"Iomega puts some ZIp in removable storage market," InfoWorld, May 1, 1995.
"Micron offers Zip as a default disk drive," InfoWorld, February 23, 1998.
"SyQuest sues French company over cartridges," InfoWorld, April 12, 2993.
"Iomega to market cartridges," InfoWorld, May 9, 1993.
"SyQuest enters retail; Iomega debuts software," InfoWorld, May 9, 1994.
"SyQuest, Iomega settle dispute over cartridge license," InfoWorld, June 20, 1994.
"SyQuest to Cut 60% of Work Force and Post a Loss," New York Times, February 3, 1996.
"Mass Data Appeal," PC Magazine, April 22, 1997.
"SyQuest charges founder with theft of trade secrets", Silicon Valley Business Journal, https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1997/07/07/story7.html
"Removable Storage," PC Magazine, April 21, 1996.
"Zip Drive Death Click Is for Real," PC World, May 1998.
"Troubled SyQuest Technology Suspends its Operations", New York Times, November 4, 1998.
Computer Chronicles, "Comdex 1998": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD2LhjtcSWI
"Storage Companies Found Dead," Maximum PC, February 1999.
"Watchdog," Maximum PC, March 1999.
"Iomega Sues Castlewood Over Patents, Trademarks," https://techmonitor.ai/techonology/iomega_sues_castlewood_over_patents_trademarks
2GB Jaz cartridge photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iomega-jaz-2gb_hg.jpg
External CD burner photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HP_C4381A_CD-Writer_Plus_7200_Series-4075.jpg
"Oral History of Syed Iftikar," https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102658066
"More Room to Store," PC Magazine, January 19, 1999.
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Intro music by BoxCat Games (http://www.box-cat.com).