I can clarify some of the tech stuff.
A “disk” is a concept. It’s an object which contains data.
“Hard” disks and “floppy” disks are always referring to the rigidity of the internal storage media. 7", 5.25", and 3.5" floppy disks have the same round magnetic storage material. The only difference with a 3.5" floppy disk is that they put a hard case over the floppy disk.
CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc are both disks and discs, as their typically handled without a caddy/case. So technically both apply.
SSDs are still disks, just solid state, rather than floppy/hard spinning magnetic media.
Technically flash drives are also solid state disks, but we don’t generally conflate the two terms for clarity.
pyre@lemmy.world 2 months ago
til disk is actually preferred in American English. from your link:
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Find me an American who says his car is equipped with “disk brakes.” “Disk” is peculiar to computer magnetic storage media, and “disc” for a round object that probably spins.
pyre@lemmy.world 2 months ago
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_(mathematics) preferred spelling here
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disk main entry lists disc as a variant spelling while the entry for disc: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disc notes it as a variant spelling of disk
www.dictionary.com/browse/disc links to disk
Cambridge online dictionary seems to agree with you more but it’s always been the shittiest of them
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Wikipedia tells me that they were initially developed in England and finally patented in Germany, so I’m guessing that’s why the British spelling is used in that case.