Sony, which boasts 70 percent of the market, announced Friday that it would end Japanese sales of the ancient storage medium in March 2011, according to a report in the Mainichi Daily newspaper.

The 3.5-inch floppy was a ubiquitous and necessary component for storing and transferring files between personal computers for nearly three decades.

Sony pioneered the 3.5-inch floppy disk in 1981, eventually replacing the 5.25-inch floppy disk that had previously been the popular storage format.

This is sad news for sure. Time to stock up on 3.5″ floppies since I can still use them for my Commodore 1581 disk drive.

Source: CNET News