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Which way should 3.5" floppy disk labels go, up or down?

vwestlife

vwestlife

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With 5.25" floppy disks, there was never any question which way the label should go -- always with the read/write head opening facing down, so that it can be protected by the envelope while the label is visible at the top.

But with 3.5" disks, there was never any standard. Many disks carried over the orientation of printing the label with the shutter side facing down, but by the '90s it seems that the other way around became more common -- probably because that's the way the HD logo is printed on 1.44MB disks. For example, I've seen Windows 3.1 disks with the labels both ways -- shutter side down, and shutter side up (see below).

So when you make your own 3.5" disk labels, which way do you prefer? Shutter side down, for conformity with 5.25" disks and easier reading when flipping through disks in a storage box, or shutter side up, so that the label is right side up while putting the disk in the drive?

IMG_0304.jpg

dsc_0203-scaled-1000.jpg
 
Ditto, shutter down, but it's never bugged me. There are no philosophical, moral or functional considerations. It's merely a very simple A or B choice.
 
The bulk labels I have that actually stick lend themselves to shutter-side up. I sorta see shutter-side down as "slightly better" since the text is the right way around in a typical floppy disk box, but I also don't really care :p
 
I've got a bunch of 3.5" labels that clearly are printed for shutter down.

Remember the Altos 8" systems with the disk drives upside down? Confused the heck out of me when I had to use them.
 
I prefer shutter side down too, just because I like to store them in the case that way. Many of the labels that came in the box were made for this direction. I also noticed that many Amiga games toward the 90's that did not use labels but instead printed directly to the plastic also were shutter side down. Of course some of the blank disks came shutter side up in the box, like KAO, and a couple others.
 
Apple did something I've never seen elsewhere: print the HD logo the other way around, to be correctly oriented for a shutter-side-down label:

System57.jpg
 
It works fine for me in Microsoft Edge (maybe the one thing it's actually good for?).

But here is the relevant image, cropped and reposted:

System57.png
 
I had not noticed the Apple HD before, that is interesting. I also appreciate that Apple used coated labels that don't suffer from the dreaded adhesive turns the label translucent syndrome. But that is a topic for another thread I am sure. ;)
 
Tor said:
It also works with right-click and 'open link in new private window'.
Click to expand...
Not very convincing.

Once you've already accessed the pic by pasting the link manually into your browser it's possible to just click normally on the original link, itself. Go ahead... try it. The pic is already in your browser's cache.
 
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