Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!network.ucsd.edu!weber!jbracher From: jbracher@weber.ucsd.edu (Matt Kennel) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Data Storage density questions Message-ID: <2684@network.ucsd.edu> Date: 31 Jul 90 00:42:48 GMT References: <2635@mindlink.UUCP> <10048@pt.cs.cmu.edu> Sender: news@network.ucsd.edu Reply-To: mbk@inls1.ucsd.edu (Matt Kennel) Organization: Institute for Nonlinear Science, UCSD Lines: 26 Nntp-Posting-Host: weber.ucsd.edu In article aglew@oberon.crhc.uiuc.edu (Andy Glew) writes: > >>Which reminds me, what ever happened to the idea of a "head stick", >>i.e. many thin-film magnetic heads, fabricated onto a rigid bar? I >>realize that head yields were awful at one time, and I realize that >>disks used to be great big things. But now, surely, it's time to >>think of tiny little head-per-track disks. > >I periodically ask disk engineer types about this. Usually the answer >comes back "aeronautics". You mean disk drives are not evacuated? Wow, you learn something new every day. Come to think of it, why not? I should think that it would be nice to be able to position the head without worrying about such ugly things as the viscocity of air and its pressure & temperature and the roughness of the platter. Fluid mechanics is exceedingly tough so why bother when you don't have to? >-- >Andy Glew, andy-glew@uiuc.edu Matt Kennel mbk@inls1.ucsd.edu