From PETER BYASS
Gareth Husk’s thoughts on operating microcomputers in harsh environments
(‘Hands-off experience’, Forum, 31 March) contain some important points,
but there are also important omissions. He correctly points out that modern
lap-top machines offer a solution to some of the problems of computing in
developing countries. However, to gain the full benefits of this technology,
it is essential to have battery-powered machines (this removes the need
for uninterruptible power supplies) and hard disc storage.
It is floppy discs – both in 5.25 and 3.5 inch versions – which are
notoriously susceptible to environmental assault. In The Gambia we have
come to accept as normal the failure of up to a third of all floppy discs
during their first year of life, despite looking after them very carefully.
Even as a backup strategy, floppy discs are highly unsatisfactory; but we
have operated many sealed hard-disc drives uneventfully up to and beyond
their design lives.
Peter Byass The Gambia, West Africa
