OK, time to reflect more seriously on this shock anouncement. (Well, I was shocked.)
First, the disclaimer. I haven't bought an new IBM/Hitachi drives since they were indeed IBM. Last IBM drives I bought new were 75GXPs - which, I hasten to add, worked perfectly. So far as I know, they are stilkl out there in service. At least, whoever I sold them to never came back to have them replaced under warranty, or upgraded.
I stopped selling IBM drives simply because
(1) my favourite IBM distributor here in Oz went out of business and the other distos were a bit ordinary.
(2) at that time we had no particular need for them - we had ample supplies of well-priced, well-performed drives from other vendors
Outside of accidental stuff (e.g., whatever brand of drive you happen to get when you order a new laptop), I haven't sold a Deskstar or a Travelstar since that time.
Nor have I sold a WD drive since not too long after that - sold a few 800BBs in 2001, a handful of JBs in 2002 or so, and that was it. Even since then, I have prety much sold nothing byt Samsung, and never regretted that for a moment - the other brands seem to have improved (the number of 3rd party systems I see come in with drive troubles is lower than it used to be) but they still don't seem to be in the same class reliability-wise that Samsung are.
The most common failed drives are Western Digital, followed by Seagate. I hardly ever see a Hitachi because their Australian distribution is still weak, and they are in any case over-priced here.
But even though I never buy WD or Hitachi drives, I will miss them. There are now just three manufacturers left, and that is a scarey thing indeed in any market.
