Iomega Bernoulli Box A220 Demonstration

Demonstration of the Iomega Bernoulli Box A220 removable storage system from 1987. Details at http://brutman.com/Bernoulli_Box/Bernoulli_Box_A220H.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Iomega
• Bernoulli Box
• A220
• Vintage computing
• Removeable storage

[igloopost]

Hi I have three x 5.25 inch 20mb Bernoulli box cartridges that I need to get the data from... do you have any idea where I should start??

cheers

Brian

[mbbrutman]

@igloopost The painful way to do it would be to try to replicate this setup. I have not seen a 20MB 5.25 version of the drive for sale in a while. The best way to do it probably would be to find a data recovery service. If this data is not mission critical and there is nothing "funny" stored on it I can probably do it; send me an email on the side and we can figure out how to do it. -Mike (mbbrutman at gmail dot com )

[SirFuzzi]

They're like the SD cards of yesteryear.

I've always had a soft spot for DOS and its video games. Are these solely storage drives or are there programmed cartridges with software or games on them?

[mbbrutman]

@SirFuzzi Just storage. And expensive at that too. In 1987 the single drive version was around $1800, while the double drive version from the video was $2600. Cartridges were $100 to $140 each.

These were really good for applications that needed security (lock the cartridge up at night), applications where having a quick backup was good (accounting), and applications where infinite storage was needed (desktop publishing/graphics).

[TheCubanassasin]

whats so special about these computers, my dad has a similar computer to this one just sitting in the attic, he wants me to throw it away and might just do that

[mbbrutman]

@TheCubanassasin People collect them. Depending on the machine, it might be quite rare and have some historical significance. Don't just throw it away - see if you can sell it on your local Craig's list, give it away on your local FreeCycle, or try to sell it on eBay. (And do some basic research on it first to see if you have a lump of coal or a diamond!)

[SirFuzzi]

@mbbrutman

Yeah, you mentioned that in the video. While my first computer was a hand-me-down machine that we basically just ran DOS games off of, I was around to see older stuff in action-- mostly floppies. It's crazy to think of what we had then, and how primitive stuff nowadays makes it look.

Granted, I still play a fair handful of DOS games. Some habits die hard. Do you still use any vintage software or hardware for anything?

[YanShadow007GT]

is my year of birth :-0 , exelent tecnology

[FHCTech]

@TheCubanassasin

Its the same thing with old standalone engines, old cars, old vending machines, old video games and systems...

Some of the things that older stuff did just looks or sounds cooler to some people...and some of the old things you used to be able to do (for better or worse) you just can't do anymore.

And especially for computers, trying to emulate hardware using software never works right....and it doesn't feel the same as working with the old, giant hardware.

[mbbrutman]

@danooct1 Email me. :-)