IBM Introduces 'Air Bags' For Laptop Hard Drives

Ruger writes "Reported in PCWorld this morning, IBM has introduced a technology for their new laptop hard discs which has a similar concept to airbags in cars. Active Protection System (APS) is a microchip put on the system board that senses acceleration. It parks the head of a hard drive inside a tenth of a second, significantly reducing the risk of damage to data. IBM also has a a press release on the new ThinkPad R50 and T41 models that include this technology, for those interested in the company line."

Comments

What about

[Sir Haxalot]

seatbelts? Bet they hadn't though of that.
*goes off to patent it*

And in other news...

[stephenisu]

Fatality rate among children riding in front seat with laptops doubles.

I'll be impressed

[Transient0]

when it can also detect incoming hammer blows and deflect them aside kung-fu style.

Also, adding further encouragement for me to throw my notebook across the room is the LAST think they need to do.

Re:I'll be impressed

[daeley]

Bah! Gimme Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses and then we'll talk about Technocide-Sensitive Laptops. ;)

But I want..

[adeyadey]

..pix of the crash test dummies when they smash the laptops into walls at 40 mph..

Antilock Caps has been Activated

[use_compress]

Will soon appear under an LED on the new Thinkpad's keyboard.

Sure, but what about terminal velocity?

[Target Practice]

I can see how this would help if you dropped it from a table, or your briefcase, but what do they have to help the laptop that reaches its terminal velocity? It's not accelerating, so it'll unlock the drive, and then SLAM! your data's gone! Skydiving with a satellite connection may not be popular at IBM, but hey, think of the rest of us, you insensitive clod!

Re:What if it misfires?

[Waffle Iron]

You have been playing the latest and greatest video game for a few hours when you make a mistake and pound the keyboard. The hardrives senses it and locks you down without saving. Whoops.

These systems have a custom BIOS routine that handles just that case. It blanks the screen and displays:

TILT
Game Over

in 3-inch tall letters.

Re:What if it misfires?

[American AC in Paris]

You have been playing the latest and greatest video game for a few hours when you make a mistake and pound the keyboard. The hardrives senses it and locks you down without saving. Whoops.

Dear IgD,

Yikes! We hadn't even considered a scenario where the laptop might be bumped during a read/write operation! Looks like it's back to the drawing board for us!

Kisses,
The IBM engineers who designed APS

Re:Yay! I think...

[mnemonic_]

I'm sure IBM's engineers have IQ's that are at least 25.

Exploding Drives!

[yintercept]

Air bags have explosives in them!

The honorable Senator Orrin Hatch should be interested in the project as it might help realize his dreams of exploding computers. You could use the explosives to save the disk when it is accelerated, or to blow up the computer when a copyright holder presses the self destruct.

BTW, if they really are like airbags, the devices can only be used once. However, what realy matters with analogies in business press releases is to make investors think of other market successes, and not really about the product.

Re:Just use old hard drives!

[bpd1069]

The HD failed eventually... but after many a trips to the floor! Only hit concrete a few times, mostly hit carpet. When it failed it was just sitting there, but I guess it couldn't take the abuse :p

Two Words...

DUCT TAPE