[A. Pole]

I would think that three such drives (one each for 8", 5.25", and 3.5") would be able to read 99.99% of the floppies produced in those sizes (and would also, with proper programming, be better able to deal with bit rot than the drives of yesteryear.

Floppies, CD's etc decay physically.

[supercat]

Floppies, CD's etc decay physically.

True, there is magnetic degredation. But signal-processing techniques should make it possible to discern data which is faded too much to be readable via standard hardware (which must 'get' everything in one go).

Of course, if the oxide falls off the disk that's another story.