Date   : Sat, 11 Dec 1982 08:36:00-EST
From   : Charlie Strom <CSTROM@Mit-Mc>
Subject: Floppy Disk Warning!!!

Alumina is aluminum oxide and is used as an industrial abrasive.
Floppy disks would use such a material to keep the heads clean I would
assume, although too much of it is certainly akin to inserting a
floppy sandpaper sheet rather than a diskette! It would be most
interesting to learn which vendor uses what it his medium formulation;
I am frankly weary of third-hand reports and horror stories re
diskettes - if I listened to all of them, there would certainly be no
diskette that I could use with complete confidence!
My philosophy to a certain extent is that you get what you pay for,
though I doubt one can apply this too rigidly to such a hocus-pocus
field as magnetic media. It would be nice if the manufacturers of
diskettes (and tapes too for that matter) would stop trying to snow is
and come up with some meaningful standard, industry-wide performance
specifications. It is not likely that they will.
                                                       Charlie