Get Perpendicular
Why Hacker News recommends it
Remembered fondly as a fun, memorable animated explanation of how perpendicular disk storage works.
What it is
A Hitachi promotional cartoon in the style of Schoolhouse Rock explaining perpendicular magnetic recording for hard drives.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2011 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends pcurve · 2023-01 · on “Ask HN: What's your favorite illustration in Computer Science?”
maybe not CS concepts, but wanted to re-share Perpendicular disc storage from Hitachi. [this video] It's a simple concept to explain, but animation sure makes it fun and lasting.
Recommends staticshock · 2026-05 · on “What Is Z-Angle Memory and Why Is Intel Developing It?”
That song is etched into my memory and bring back a flood of great feelings. Daily Motion is giving me a playback error, but here's a copy from youtube: [this video]
Cites jamesbressi · 2011-03 · on “Western digital acquires Hitachi Global Storage Tech for $4.3B”
Maybe you forgot this? Hitachi School House Rock video... [this video] "Get Perpendicular" Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.
Cites basch · 2020-04 · on “Western Digital admits 2TB-6TB WD Red NAS drives use shingled magnetic recording”
That's what I'm wondering though. Nearly all the WD data center drives are marketed as Ultrastar. Is this marketing, or did the HGST entity supplant WD enterprise during "integration" in the last two years? [LINK] It looks like the only surviving product names are Ultrastar and CinemaStar. Nothing is labeled HGST anymore. Most of the HGST Helium disks were SMR, if I'm not mistaken. As of now, given the two HelioSeal series, one of the two is SMR. Side Note: Hitachi had such a great thing going with their Schoolhouse Rock meets Dino DNA commercial. I wish this would have continued. [this video]