I have noted to myself before that the spelling difference between ‘disk’ and ‘disc’ is problematic. At the time, I was not able to find any discernible difference in meaning, just personal preference.
Recently, I found the Wikipedia article Spelling of disc which offered some clarity on the matter. While it matters little in the grand scheme of things, using the correct terminology and understanding it can improve communication or comprehension.
Generally for disk storage as an electronic media, disk refers to magnetic storage while disc refers to optical storage.
The article goes on to explain some history of the term such as international differences between American English and British English. There is also history of IBM competitors, Philips and Sony using the ‘disc’ spelling to differentiate their optical products from traditional ‘diskettes’.
Anyways…
