An online archive of Agrippa: A Book of the Dead
agrippa.english.ucsb.edu
agrippa.english.ucsb.edu
Story:
I owned a 20MB hard drive, attached to the side of my Amiga 1200, in the 1990's. Internet was a discrete, dial-up experience. One morning the drive clanged unnaturally loudly. And the shaky desk on which I computed transmitted a strong thud force. My HD had decided to slam its head into its cylinder spindle. I believed I would lose all my work. I backed it up, and later Maxtor honored its warranty, ultimately restoring my precious files.
Gibson's poetry experience reminds me of this moment - all my special data being threatened to go, "poof!"
(link to his full poem: https://web.archive.org/web/20190322065716/http://www.willia...)
These HD's were EXPENSIVE, back in that day.
I'm impressed no bit-errors crept into your drive, at least none that you mention here. Did you use a clean-room (a humid bathroom) or did you just YOLO it?