[mdlug] Interesting information about Windows "7"

[Michael Rudas]

Jeff Hanson wrote:
> Aaron Kulkis wrote:
> > When's the last time you saw an RLL drive or an MFM drive?

> 1992

> > Do you even know what one looks like?

> There is no visible difference from the outside since it is a media
> format.  If you are referring to the interface there was ST-506 and
> ESDI (which had the same cabling) and SCSI.

> > [Hint, they're both have a 5-1/4 x 3-drive-bays tall
> > form factor, and they're as heavy as bowling balls]
>
> The PC drive sizes in those days were either full or half-height
> relating to the original 5.25in floppy bay size.

In March of 1983 there was a technology fair in Ann Arbor.  One of the
participants was the then-new Irwin Magnetics, founded by Sam Irwin
shortly after he had sold his earlier tech company, Sicor, to Northern
Telecom (a story in itself, which eventually involved the Atari ST).

The product Irwin displayed was what may well have been the first
3.5-inch hard drive shown to the public, with a 10 MB capacity (the
non-working demo unit was really cool, with a clear plastic case).
Irwin's plan was to use plated-glass platters instead of metal to
improve thermal stability and reduce the cost of the drive electronics
-- but the drive proved impossible to produce in quantity due to the
poor adhesion of the magnetic coating to the disk.

Ironically, during the development of the hard drive Irwin realized
that a backup solution was going to be useful for it.  The Irwin tape
drive -- developed in parallel with the hard drive -- was the product
that saved the day and made Irwin a near-household word.

~~ Mikey