Hardware hacker wants to make an alternative remote control for his
smart TV that would be more intuitive for his toddler child to use
than a conventional interactive remote interface.

So what does he do? Build it out of an ancient, 1990s-technology
floppy drive. Basic idea is that each floppy disk represents a
different stream; user inserts disk into drive, TV starts playing that
stream.

Initially he thought of faking it, with simulated floppy ?disks? with
RFID chips on them that the ?drive? would detect. Then he figured that
the actual tactile experience of putting a real working disk into a
real working drive would be far more effective. So he stores a config
file on each disk that contains information about the stream to be
played (plus associated display artwork), that software can read from
the drive.

Since there is only a small amount of data to be read off each disk,
the drive can work quite nicely off battery power. So it becomes a
real remote control as in one that is remote, not connected to the TV
by any wire. Albeit one that is not very easy to pick up, but never
mind ...

<https://www.tomshardware.com/maker-stem/microcontrollers-projects/floppy-disk-drive-converted-into-smart-tv-remote-for-kids-devs-toddler-inserts-vividly-labeled-floppies-to-watch-his-favorite-shows>

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 19/01/2026 08:29, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

Hardware hacker wants to make an alternative remote control for his
smart TV that would be more intuitive for his toddler child to use
than a conventional interactive remote interface.

So what does he do? Build it out of an ancient, 1990s-technology
floppy drive. Basic idea is that each floppy disk represents a
different stream; user inserts disk into drive, TV starts playing that stream.

Initially he thought of faking it, with simulated floppy ?disks? with
RFID chips on them that the ?drive? would detect. Then he figured that
the actual tactile experience of putting a real working disk into a
real working drive would be far more effective. So he stores a config
file on each disk that contains information about the stream to be
played (plus associated display artwork), that software can read from
the drive.

Since there is only a small amount of data to be read off each disk,
the drive can work quite nicely off battery power. So it becomes a
real remote control as in one that is remote, not connected to the TV
by any wire. Albeit one that is not very easy to pick up, but never
mind ...

<https://www.tomshardware.com/maker-stem/microcontrollers-projects/floppy-disk-drive-converted-into-smart-tv-remote-for-kids-devs-toddler-inserts-vividly-labeled-floppies-to-watch-his-favorite-shows>

This sent me down a rabbit hole of seeing how much and how easy it is to
get floppy disk drives and disks these days. I had no idea they were
still so readily available! Though looks like only the 3.5s are still
desired. Could be a fun backup option for my .md files I use for my
writing...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 7 Feb 2026 16:19:17 +0100, Steven Thomsen-Jones wrote:

This sent me down a rabbit hole of seeing how much and how easy it
is to get floppy disk drives and disks these days. I had no idea
they were still so readily available! Though looks like only the
3.5s are still desired. Could be a fun backup option for my .md
files I use for my writing...

Floppy disks were never ?fun? (or maybe they were, briefly, for those
who had grown up with cassette tape data storage). They were slow and frequently unreliable. Optical media was far preferable for backups,
once CD writers became affordable.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 07/02/2026 21:36, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

On Sat, 7 Feb 2026 16:19:17 +0100, Steven Thomsen-Jones wrote:

This sent me down a rabbit hole of seeing how much and how easy it
is to get floppy disk drives and disks these days. I had no idea
they were still so readily available! Though looks like only the
3.5s are still desired. Could be a fun backup option for my .md
files I use for my writing...

Floppy disks were never ?fun? (or maybe they were, briefly, for those
who had grown up with cassette tape data storage). They were slow and frequently unreliable. Optical media was far preferable for backups,
once CD writers became affordable.

I started on a BBC Micro B, so moving to the 5.25 inch floppies for
playing Elite after waiting for the old tape loads is still a very fond
memory for me. The sound of them working is very nostalgic for a Gen Xer

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.11
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)