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IBM DeskStar 75GXP Hard Drive Failures?
Sean Kelly asks: "Like a lot of other people, I went out and bought myself a nice 60GB IBM DeskStar 75GXP (ATA100, 7200rpm) hard drive to put in my sparkling new computer. Boy was that a mistake! A few months after I got the drive, it failed with horrific grinding and clicking noises, plus random data loss. So I RMA'd the first one and got a 'SERVICEABLE USED PART' replacement from IBM, which died of the same death after another few months. Not getting the hint, I RMA'd that one. Last week, I got the refab. drive back from IBM and it has already died, in less than a week! This time I did some site searching and found many people are having problems with this drive. Sites such as The Inquirer, Hexus, Tech Report, Hardware One,
Sysopt, and even this PCWorld have dedicated articles, forums and user reviews to these failing and defective drives. From what I can understand, IBM is not publicly acknowledging that they screwed up here. How many other people out there have had their 75GXP (or 60GXP) drives fail? What size were they? What part number? What did IBM do about it? It is my opinion that IBM should do something about this, since I've seen an unnaturally high number of complaints about this drive now that I started looking for customer feedback. Also, here is a letter I sent to IBM explaining my frustration with them. It has more information in it."
Does anyone else find it slightly odd that this almost 'anti-ibm' propoganda is popping up shortly after they publicised their stance on the DMCA? Nothing against the slashdot crew, but lots of companies make bad hardware, Ive used alot of it.
.. maybe it is just a coincidence...
or
... if they ever pass this "Proposed Federal Criminal Statute Addressing the Solicitation of Commercial Terrorism Through the Internet" or a comparable piece of legislation.
Published in the Winter 2000 Harvard Journal on Legislation this draft would make it possible to prosecute those who run disparaging web sites aimed at corporations and their products or otherwise by their activities on the net cause damage to corporation's public image or revenues:
(excerpt) The development of the Internet as a means of communication marks a dramatic change in the manner in which information is exchanged and disseminated in our culture. Quickly fading are the days in which a person's main venue for expressing her revolutionary views included standing on a soapbox or distributing leaflets. Instead, the Internet provides any person with any opinion the ability to reach a virtually unlimited audience without the formidable barriers previously posed by costly and inaccessible mainstream visual or print media. n1 In the current "Information Age," the marketplace of ideas is booming on the Internet.
However, along with the benefits of increased access to information, ease of communication, and new avenues for commerce have come the problems associated with a largely unregulated {page 160} environment. In its present infant stage, the Internet resembles the lawless "Wild West." The Internet is open to governance by human instincts, including those of greed, deception, and hate. In recent months there has been an alarming increase in the use of the Internet to sponsor, solicit and encourage the use of "commercial terrorism." n2 For the purposes of this Model Statute , "commercial terrorism" is defined as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce commercial interests. (/excerpt)
Now to be sure, this is just a draft. It may not even have entered the "legislative process" yet. But all the same it certainly is an indication that people are thinking along these lines... and given the laws that have been passed the last five years I wouldn't be the least surprised if something like this would come up in the near future.
It was kinda weird at first, because I was thinking everyone had me mistaken for the popular guy who was class president in high school. I found out when I got called for the 20th reunion a couple months ago that the then-class pres still has 3 more years on a 10 year stretch for embezzlement, the vice pres is dead (along with more than a dozen other former classmates), the "treasurer" is living in Japan teaching English and can't go back to the US for tax reasons, and lots of other fun stuff. Meanwhile, the guy who couldn't have been more outside if he was skiing in Antarctica is top of everyone's party list. I think a "w00t" is appropriate.
I know exactly what you're talking about. Doesn't fit this time.
woof.
You better believe I worked on my people skills to get where I am today. But I don't get walked all over by companies who would happily foist crappy products on me. If you can't be a bulldog-like mean son-of-a-bitch when you're standing up for your rights, don't bother. No one won any rights of value just by asking nicely.