DATA LOSS I. BACKGROUND What we see and think of as our 'data' really doesn't 'exist' in a physical sense. Data is simply very small bits of metal magnetized as ON or OFF (1 or 0). These rust particles are glued to a thin sheet of metal which is then spun at extremely fast rates, and skimmed over by an electronic reader. Human beings really can't KNOW that what is on that 'disk' is reliably there. It doesn't take that much to accidentally erase a disk, in spite of the consistency and reliability which we have become used to. Putting your phone on top of your floppy disk or computer will do it just fine, thank you. (Many phones contain magnets to operate the bell. The phone rings, and the magnets wipe out the diskette!) As someone said recently, computers are like light bulbs: we speak in terms of WHEN they will fail, not IF they fail. The more often you use a light bulb, the quicker it fails. But that doesn't stop us from turning on the lights when it gets dark. It DOES mean that we ÿ DATA LOSS I. BACKGROUND What we see and think of as our 'data' really doesn't 'exist' in a physical sense. Data is simply very small bits of metal magnetized as ON or OFF (1 or 0). These rust particles are glued to a thin sheet of metal which is then spun at extremely fast rates, and skimmed over by an electronic reader. Human beings really can't KNOW that what is on that 'disk' is reliably there. It doesn't take that much to accidentally erase a disk, in spite of the consistency and reliability which we have become used to. Putting your phone on top of your floppy disk or computer will do it just fine, thank you. (Many phones contain magnets to operate the bell. The phone rings, and the magnets wipe out the diskette!) As someone said recently, computers are like light bulbs: we speak in terms of WHEN they will fail, not IF they fail. The more often you use a light bulb, the quicker it fails. But that doesn't stop us from turning on the lights when it gets dark. It DOES mean that we ÿ DATA LOSS I. BACKGROUND What we see and think of as our 'data' really doesn't 'exist' in a physical sense. Data is simply very small bits of metal magnetized as ON or OFF (1 or 0). These rust particles are glued to a thin sheet of metal which is then spun at extremely fast rates, and skimmed over by an electronic reader. Human beings really can't KNOW that what is on that 'disk' is reliably there. It doesn't take that much to accidentally erase a disk, in spite of the consistency and reliability which we have become used to. Putting your phone on top of your floppy disk or computer will do it just fine, thank you. (Many phones contain magnets to operate the bell. The phone rings, and the magnets wipe out the diskette!) As someone said recently, computers are like light bulbs: we speak in terms of WHEN they will fail, not IF they fail. The more often you use a light bulb, the quicker it fails. But that doesn't stop us from turning on the lights when it gets dark. It DOES mean that we ÿ DATA LOSS I. BACKGROUND What we see and think of as our 'data' really doesn't 'exist' in a physical sense. Data is simply very small bits of metal magnetized as ON or OFF (1 or 0). These rust particles are glued to a thin sheet of metal which is then spun at extremely fast rates, and skimmed over by an electronic reader. Human beings really can't KNOW that what is on that 'disk' is reliably there. It doesn't take that much to accidentally erase a disk, in spite of the consistency and reliability which we have become used to. Putting your phone on top of your floppy disk or computer will do it just fine, thank you. (Many phones contain magnets to operate the bell. The phone rings, and the magnets wipe out the diskette!) As someone said recently, computers are like light bulbs: we speak in terms of WHEN they will fail, not IF they fail. The more often you use a light bulb, the quicker it fails. But that doesn't stop us from turning on the lights when it gets dark. It DOES mean that we ÿ