Click of death" strikes Iomega (Salesmen did not tell me this)
By Paul Festa
January 29, 1998, 5:30 p.m. PT
Users of Iomega's Zip drives are reporting serious malfunction of their drives and disks, a problem that has come to be known as the "click of death."
The problem is being discussed in newsgroups including "alt.iomega.zip.jazz" and "comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc," and on Web sites such as the New Unofficial Iomega Page and the Click Death Home Page.
Users report that after a time, their Zip drives will no longer read disks and instead will produce a loud clicking sound, from which the problem gets its name. Afflicted units reportedly no longer work once they get the "click of death," and numerous users reported damaged disks and data loss as well.
The problem is not reported to be associated with Iomega's new storage product, called Clik, for handheld devices.
DJ Breslin, a consultant and programmer at Intel, told NEWS.COM that in the past 18 months he has lost five Zip drives to the "click of death" problem. While he lauded Iomega's customer service department for replacing his broken drives, he noted that the company had not responded to a letter of complaint he sent in November.
Breslin said Iomega's products were the most convenient to use because of their large installed base.
"But if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't go with |
