MacIvory disk and monitor information

["Scott B. Layson" <gyro@KESTREL.ARPA>]

   Date: Thu, 16 Mar 89 13:40 EST
   From: JR@YUKON.SCRC.Symbolics.COM (Johanna Rothman)

       Date: Wed, 15 Mar 89 11:11:08 -0500
       From: jrd@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Jim Davis)

       I would like to put a Lisp Machine in my car.
       Are any of these disk drivers thought to be
       robust enough to survive in the BUMPY world
       of a Boston driver?

   I'm assuming this is not an early April Fool's question, and you're not
   asking about just transportation.  You should be able to transport the
   machine and disk with no damage as long as you package things up reasonably.

   If you are asking about using the machine while you are driving, then
   you need a ruggedized box and disk drive (maybe a semiconductor disk
   drive), because I honestly can't see how any disk drive could take the
   potholes we have and still work.

Oh, I don't know, people are learning to make disks more physically
robust anyhow these days because of the spread of portables and
laptops.  (Which suggests that perhaps you should try to stay within
the 5 1/4" form factor, since the larger drives will not necessarily
have had that as a design goal.)

Mount the drive so the platters are vertical (so bumps won't tend to
push the head into the disk) and head movement is horizontal (so bumps
won't tend to move the head off-track), provide a reasonable amount of
foam cushioning, and I bet you can win.

'Course I won't accept any liability; I'm just offering an opinion.

And yes, I used to drive in Boston.

 -- Scott