Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor
From: seven@nuchat (David Paulsen)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Urban legends
Message-ID: <1888@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: 12 Apr 88 16:50:00 GMT
Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM
Lines: 22
Approved: taylor@hplabs

While taking an introductory COBOL course about eight years ago I got
to be good friends with the instructor, who had been around computers
since the late 50's.  He told me a story he swore to be true.

Seems the hardware types had spent a number of hours installing a new
'washing-machine' 5-platter disk drive on the big Honeywell, and were
just about to invoke diagnostics.  Somebody hit the final key and they
all sat back to wait for the machine's verdict...  all of a sudden, the
most GAWD AWFUL sound, kind of a ripping, screeching, freezing-bearing
sound came from the new drive.  Everybody turned around, in time to see
the plastic-oid cover rip free from the top of the box, and the platter,
spinning out of control, lift itself up out of the drive and float ABOVE
the spindle before listing to port and finally diving for the floor,
where it landed like a frisbee, still spinning.

Stunned silence.

"Well, I guess that's a 'fail'" one tech remarked.

Apparently, the spindle had snapped just as the drive got up to speed.

David Paulsen