Floppy disks
The first floppy disks were 8 inches across and genuinely bendable, hence “floppy”. They were followed by 5.25-inch disks and finally 3.5-inch ones in a rigid plastic case. A single 1.44 MB floppy could not hold even one photo from today's phones.
Optical discs
The CD from Philips and Sony (1982) brought digital music and later installation discs for software and games. DVD made higher-quality films possible, and Blu-ray brought HD and 4K video. A laser reads microscopic pits on the surface of the disc.
Today
Physical media have been replaced by USB flash drives, the cloud and streaming. Many laptops no longer have a disc drive. The floppy disk icon, however, has remained the symbol for saving.