Tuesday, September 6th 2022

Japanese Government Ends its Floppy and CD-ROM Obsession in the Age of Online Forms

Ever wondered why optical disc drives and floppy drives are still a thing in Japan? Turns out that government forms require Japanese citizens and businesses to mail in their data (forms, electronic attachments, etc.,) in physical media such as floppy disks, CD-ROMs, or MD cards (a floptical memory card)! They could also submit USB flash drives, but why would you give away a $5 flash drive when you could keep an optical- or floppy drive handy for when you have any business with your government? Rather use cheaper consumable storage media? Sharing information with the government over the Internet is forbidden for security reasons. Japan is finally changing this policy. Under the new policy, every citizen gets a unique identification number, called MyNumber, and can fill up online forms. Electronic attachments can finally be securely uploaded to an online database.
Source: TechARP
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34 Comments on Japanese Government Ends its Floppy and CD-ROM Obsession in the Age of Online Forms

#26
Darksword
Might as well just go back to using stone tablets.
Posted on Reply
#27
caroline!
Divide OverflowThe US nuclear launch system still used antiquated floppy drives until just a few years ago.
The soviet nuclear launch system uses perforated cards and the coordinates for each rocket are loaded using an 8" floppy

beep beep boop
Posted on Reply
#28
Reverb256
Divide OverflowThe US nuclear launch system still used antiquated floppy drives until just a few years ago.
oh is it hooked up to the internet now? :P
Posted on Reply
#29
Mike Chen
Hyderzhehe, i think they still be using fax
In fact the Tokyo government had problem tracking rising number of COVID cases back in 2020... because they don't have enough fax machines. They changed to use network soon after.
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#30
hassy
I'm an engineer living in urban Japan, working on machine learning and quantum computing, and I stamped my seal over 30 times at work today!
Posted on Reply
#31
Ferrum Master
hassyI'm an engineer living in urban Japan, working on machine learning and quantum computing, and I stamped my seal over 30 times at work today!
Just because your elders suffered and now you must suffer too? :D
Posted on Reply
#32
hassy
Ferrum MasterJust because your elders suffered and now you must suffer too? :D
We are not allowed to do our jobs unless we follow the rules made by our elders, just like they did 4000 years ago.
Posted on Reply
#33
Wirko
hassyI'm an engineer living in urban Japan, working on machine learning and quantum computing, and I stamped my seal over 30 times at work today!
Living in many centuries at the same time, now that's something to write home about.
Posted on Reply
#34
Prima.Vera
Everybody just thinks Japan is a Hi-Tech leader (was maybe ~30+ years ago...), but as a person working and living in Japan, I can tell you that the country is not only backwards technologically, - yes, they are still using FAXes at Corporate level, they are still using ISDN and phone lines to connect Companies between them (!!), they still use personal stamps for official documents; but also culturally backwards, like banning people with even smallest tattoos on gyms, public baths, water parks, etc, and treat them like murder criminals or worst...; banning foreigners to enter certain establishments (yes, Japanese only is a thing there).
Point is, those things like using floppy disks or CD-ROMs are just the tip of the iceberg there, there are a lot of vintage tech that they still use broadly...
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