Zip – Nothing, nil, nada, zero, zilch. Zip is one of those words that actually has about a hundred different meanings and uses between being an acronym for a dozen different things and being an abbreviation for a dozen more. For our purposes, two definitions are most relevant.

1. An open standard for computer file compression and decompression used widely for PC download archives. The file extension given to ZIP files is .zip.
2. A popular storage media type developed by Iomega that began as a 100-MB hard disk data cartridge about the size of a 3.5-inch floppy disk. Originally conceived as a sort of “super floppy,” Zip drives and media are now available in 100 and 250 MB sizes with ATAPI, parallel, USB, and SCSI configurations. There will probably be further enhancements in the future. While Zips look a lot like floppy disks, their speed performance is much closer to that of a hard drive.