I don't think I'll be able to put it back together... But taking things apart is so fun!!

Oh it is a hard disk
Shit I mean was... 😂
Btw, I tried to make a face out of those 2 platters and the magnet. :3

Shootout to my 2.5GB Maxtor hard drive, that I heavily used between 1997 and 2001. There were no USB drives, and CD burners were too expensive for consumers. So I used to open my PC case, remove the drive (along with Windows and my software), bring it around at my friend's house and have fun while copying hundreds of mp3s, patiently downloaded from filesharing and 56k modems or ripped from CD audio, in and out.

One time it fell out from my desk, hitting hard floor big time. I thought I lost it forever, and basically my whole PC in it. Then I tried plugging again its IDE and power connectors, and it was still working! ... well, half of it. That badass still continued to work with one of its two platters crashed, and got some more mp3s with it.
Maybe I still have it...

Was trying to see why a (luckily) wiped drive wasn't reading out of nowhere, got to feel it try to read from the platters, arm flailing to try and read anything, and suddenly it just... gave up, arm parked, platters spun down... It still had power, it just stopped and didn't start back up, except for a moment or two of spin when power is applied.

I felt a HDD give up and die and it made me kinda sad.

Wow, I would have to write a book to describe all of the positive ways coding and a long career in technology have impacted my life.

In short, it has provided me with a great life, career, passion and so many friends I can 'talk shop' with.

A great journey from punch cards to PC's to LAN's to a global network. From 8" platters to 10mb Bernoulli boxes to 5 1/4 to 3 1/2 to terabytes in your pocket!

From Brick size 'mobile' phones and 35 lb Compaq and Osborne 1 'laptops' (I know some of you remember those) to today's amazing miniaturization.

From MS DOS and Dr. DOS to lots of OS's. I had better stop as it seems I am writing a book in a rant 😀

Best of all... my son went into the family business and now we 'talk shop'!

It has been an amazing ride!