Meeting the Challenges of Innovation – The 1990s Inventive Story of the Zip Drive

Ever wonder about the difference between invention and innovation? Or how they might interplay in the development of a truly market disruptive product?  The 1990s-era story of the development of the super floppy for data storage will be told here. The critical insights, competitive pressures, and inventive challenges behind the Zip Drive are described.  Products such as the Bernoulli Box, Floptical, LS-120, HiFD, Clik! Drive, industrial espionage interlopers such as the French Company Nomai, and the infamous Zip click-of-death are all part of this technology tale. Ultimately, this presentation will examine, through a few select engineering challenges faced during the development of the Zip drive, how the confluence of directed invention can deliver market innovation of the first order.  The rise and fall of a technology and product is described by one of its principal innovators.  An interesting story with a few product innovation insights is the target of this discussion.

About Fred C Thomas III

Fred Charles Thomas III - Engineer and Inventor

Fred Thomas received a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Physics from Bucknell University in 1982. In 1990 he received a MS in Mechanical Engineering specializing in Control Systems and Non-linear Dynamics.

His awards include the International Design Excellence Award in 2009, Industrial Forum Product Design Award in 2008, "Nano50 Award" for "Subwavelength Optical Data Storage" in 2005, Lemelson-MIT "Inventor of the Week" Award in 2004, Iomega "Exceptional Invention Award" in 1999, and Laser Focus World "Electro-Optic Application of the Year Award" in 1994. 

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