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DISKCON Convention, Sept. 20, 2001 by Ronald Horii
On September 20, 2001, I went to the DISKCON exhibition at the San Jose Convention Center. This was the heyday of DISKCON, when it was a huge event for the disk drive data storage industry and took up most of the convention center. At that time, there were lots of disk drive companies and many manufacturers selling supplies, parts, services, and test equipment for the industry. Gradually, the number of manufacturers shrank, until there are now just 3 big players: Western Digital, Seagate, with Toshiba a distant third. The number of suppliers also got whittled down a lot. DISKCON got smaller and eventually disappeared, though the organization that ran it, IDEMA, still exists.
The most interesting part of the convention was the historical displays of disk drive technology. That's what most of these pictures show. You can see some historical disk drives at the Computer History Museum now, if it were open.
When I took these pictures, I was a senior engineer for IBM, where I worked starting from 1977 at its Cottle Road campus. IBM sold the disk drive division to Hitachi in 2003. Hitachi later sold it to Western Digital in 2012. I worked for both of those companies in the same plantsite on Cottle Road. I retired from Western Digital in 2015. These pictures bring back memories of my career.
These pictures were all shot on film. I scanned the negatives. They were among the last of my film pictures, as I switched to digital in December of 2001.
On September 20, 2001, I went to the DISKCON exhibition at the San Jose Convention Center. This was the heyday of DISKCON, when it was a huge event for the disk drive data storage industry and took up most of the convention center. At that time, there were lots of disk drive companies and many manufacturers selling supplies, parts, services, and test equipment for the industry. Gradually, the number of manufacturers shrank, until there are now just 3 big players: Western Digital, Seagate, with Toshiba a distant third. The number of suppliers also got whittled down a lot. DISKCON got smaller and eventually disappeared, though the organization that ran it, IDEMA, still exists.
The most interesting part of the convention was the historical displays of disk drive technology. That's what most of these pictures show. You can see some historical disk drives at the Computer History Museum now, if it were open.
When I took these pictures, I was a senior engineer for IBM, where I worked starting from 1977 at its Cottle Road campus. IBM sold the disk drive division to Hitachi in 2003. Hitachi later sold it to Western Digital in 2012. I worked for both of those companies in the same plantsite on Cottle Road. I retired from Western Digital in 2015. These pictures bring back memories of my career.
These pictures were all shot on film. I scanned the negatives. They were among the last of my film pictures, as I switched to digital in December of 2001.
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William Frank Osler
Wow! Lots of old friends there! I worked in Test Equipment Maintenance for the machines that built all of those products from 78 to 86. No 3330 in the display? It was the first to use a voice coil actuator, replacing the hydraulics of earlier units.
Many stories- the time they literally lost the formula for the disk coating on 3330, 3340, and 3350. “Piccolo, life in the return lane” scrawled on a white board. How Legionnaires Disease led to catastrophic disk failures at many customers.
Many stories- the time they literally lost the formula for the disk coating on 3330, 3340, and 3350. “Piccolo, life in the return lane” scrawled on a white board. How Legionnaires Disease led to catastrophic disk failures at many customers.
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William Pierce
I built 100's of 3330's and 3333's in San Jose, and I didn't see any in the presentation.
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