Editing Bernoulli Box

{{Short description|Removable floppy disk storage system}}
{{More footnotes|date=September 2013}}
[[Image:Bernoulli230.jpg|thumb|230 MB Bernoulli disk]]
[[Image:20 MB Bernoulli disk cartridge.jpg|thumb|20 MB Bernoulli disk]]
The '''Bernoulli Box''' (or simply '''Bernoulli''', named after [[Bernoulli's principle]]) is a high-capacity (at the time of release) removable [[disk storage]] system that was [[Iomega]]'s first widely known product. It was first released in 1982.

==Overview==
The original Bernoulli Box "Alpha-10" is a 10&nbsp;MB removable disk drive that spins a disk made of [[PET film (biaxially oriented)|PET film]] at about 1500 [[revolutions per minute|rpm]],<ref name="IomRefMan">[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/iomega/00701300-000_IOMEGA_Alpha_10H_Technical_Description_Manual_Nov84.pdf IOMEGA Alpha 10H Technical Description Manual]</ref> 1&nbsp;[[μm]] above a [[read-write head]]. Utilizing [[Bernoulli's principle]], the rotation of the disk pulls the flexible disk media down towards the read/write head, and will continue to do so for as long as the disk is spinning. This was in an attempt to make the Bernoulli drive more reliable than a contemporaneous hard disk drive, since a [[head crash]] is made physically impossible: should the disk stop spinning for any reason, it immediately pulls away from the read/write head, preventing damage.

The Bernoulli Box was released in capacities of 10 and, later, 20&nbsp;MB, and its cartridges measure 8.23 x 11.02 x 0.71 inches,<ref name="IomRefMan" /> about the size of a standard piece of letter paper (albeit thicker). Bernoulli Boxes could be configured at time of purchase for either one or two drives within a single enclosure. A drive subsystem can be connected to a host computer via a proprietary interface card that utilizes a 37-pin [[SCSI]] connector.

In 1985, a 5&nbsp;MB, [[RS-422|RS-422 serial]] version of the Bernoulli Box, specific to the original [[Macintosh_128K|Macintosh]] and [[Macintosh 512K]], was released. The cartridges for this Macintosh-only version have a  smaller capacity of just 5&nbsp;MB. However, they are also physically smaller than their predecessors, measuring just 5.5 x 7.4 x 0.53 inches. With the release of the [[Macintosh Plus]] in 1986 (and its on-board SCSI interface), the 5MB Bernoulli Box was quickly discontinued, and the 10 and 20&nbsp;MB versions were adapted for the Macintosh Plus's 25-pin SCSI connector.

The most popular system was the Bernoulli Box II, whose cartridges are 13.6&nbsp;cm wide, 14&nbsp;cm long, and 0.9&nbsp;cm thick, somewhat resembling a [[Floppy_disk#5%C2%BC-inch_floppy_disk|5¼-inch standard floppy disk]]. The Bernoulli Box II was initially released with just a 20&nbsp;[[megabyte|MB]] capacity, but was quickly followed up by drives with capacities of 44&nbsp;MB, then 90&nbsp;MB (with varying levels of backwards compatibility). Eventually, a so-called "MultiDisk" drive was released which sported a maximum capacity of 150&nbsp;MB, but which could also read and write without penalty to other "MultiDisk" cartridges, specifically: 35&nbsp;MB, 65&nbsp;MB, and 105&nbsp;MB, in addition to 150&nbsp;MB.

By 1993, a 230&nbsp;MB Bernoulli Box was released which boosted the maximum possible capacity, and which was also backwards compatible with most previous capacities (albeit at a performance penalty).

Bernoulli Box II drives were sold as either internal units which fit into standard 5¼-inch [[drive bay]]s, or as external units, with either one or two drives within a self-contained enclosure, similar to the original Bernoulli Box, and which connected to the host computer via the external SCSI connector.

All versions of the Bernoulli Box II use a SCSI interface, but external drives can also be converted for use with a [[Parallel port]] interface using a special adapter.

Cartridges for both the original Bernoulli Box, as well as the Bernoulli Box II, have a physical switch on them, analogous to that of a standard 3½-inch [[floppy disk]], in order to enable and disable [[write protection]].

==Reception==
''[[PC Magazine]]'' in 1984 stated that the Bernoulli Box "... combines the advantages of [standard] floppy- and hard-disk systems without their drawbacks." It reported no software-compatibility problems and cited the box's durable design.{{r|pc19840918}} [[Bruce Webster]] of ''[[BYTE]]'' wrote favorably of the peripheral in February 1986, reporting that "I have not had a single glitch or lost file" in nine months of constant use.<ref name="webster198602">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1986-02/1986_02_BYTE_11-02_Text_Processing#page/n343/mode/2up | title=Programming Tool and the Atari ST | work=BYTE | date=February 1986 | accessdate=9 May 2015 | author=Webster, Bruce | pages=331}}</ref>

==Successors==
Iomega's later removable-storage products such as the [[Zip drive]] and [[Iomega Jaz drive|Jaz]] and [[REV (disk)|Rev]] removable [[hard disks]] did not use the Bernoulli technology.

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="pc19840918">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq3POofPsBEC&pg=PA148 | title=The Bernoulli Solution | work=PC Magazine | date=1984-09-18 | accessdate=25 October 2013 |author1=Vaughan, Frank |author2=Aarons, Richard | pages=148}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.brutman.com/Bernoulli_Box/Bernoulli_Box_A220H.html |title=The Bernoulli Box A220H
 |last=Brutman  |first=M |date=February 27, 2011 |access-date=April 29, 2019 }}
*{{cite web  |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/iomega-corporation-history/
 |title=Iomega Corporation History |access-date=April 29, 2019}}

{{Iomega storage devices}}

[[Category:Floppy disk drives]]
[[Category:Iomega storage devices]]
[[Category:Discontinued media formats]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1982]]