Akai S1000 / S1100 samplers

I don't really understand what you mean by 'acquiring' floppies.
.Record your own samples or transfer them via midi or just get a usb zip drive make a zip with samples and you're good to go.Don't really sure how to do that so don't ask me:p
I just record straight to the Akai.Try it.It's how it is supposed to be done anyway.
ZIP drives are considered unreliable in general,just google "click of death'.I use one myself but sometimes I save things to floppies just to be sure.
I think I already mentioned CF cards.Look for a raizinmonster or whatever it's called.Actually there are 2 types and only one fits the Akai just ask the seller If you're interested.It's sold on eBay and it's overpriced imo but these things may be rare to find and people often take advantage of other peoples needs etc etc.Anyway it is the best solution,no more floppies and scsi drives.Just record samples into the Akai trim them save them and you're okay.If you want to use your laptop for samples go ahead but if you're serious about hardware sampling 80% of the time you will be sampling inside.Even prerecorded (your laptop's sample library) samples benefit from that.Crank the gain a little and record them.There's something sweet about the S1100 AD converters.
USE your sampler properly. If you just want a sample playback machine, computers are perfect for that.
Good luck!!