The customer would never have to stop at the gasoline station during the life of the car. In spite of the phenomenal technology progress, the disk drive's fragility specification has not improved at all. Even today, a one-inch drop onto a solid surface will permanently damage a disk drive and the resident data on the drive will be lost. As a result, the disk drive is still protected inside the computer housing and many users have never seen a disk drive in actual shape and form. Disk drive fragility has a dramatic effect on overall data loss in the industry and is a primary reason for data backup.
Data loss associated with notebooks and portable computers is even more drastic.
The burst rate is for an internal device. With DataZONE's proprietary technology, the hard disk drive is now the most durable and rugged peripheral in the industry. Hot-Swap software is an optional feature for users requiring frequent data exchange or for applications that won't allow for the computer system to be shut down temporarily. Beyond DataBook, the DataBay housing interfaces with the standard IBM Travelstar E series of disk drives and, in the near future, other companies will offer DataBook equivalent disk drive products. For example, many large corporations are implementing home office-worker programs and are purchasing systems for their employees to take home.