I once wanted to write a post about the SMR (Shielded Magnetic Recording), which is one of the worst possible ideas of the 21st century! Some retarded, accountant-minded CEO considered that a 20% increase in data density warrants an absurd increase in embedded software complexity and in the premature wear of an HDD’s mechanics, then all manufacturers followed the trend as somnambulist lemmings!

Except for the above paragraph, I won’t address this aspect of the collective irresponsibility of the leaders of all technology companies, because some practical aspects could be considered as covered by Christopher Barnatt, the annoyingly optimistic futurist and explainer behind ExplainingTheFuture.com, ExplainingComputers.com, and their associated YouTube channels.

I stopped watching his videos for several reasons, including the following ones:

  • He seems to be addressing the mentally retarded, so I need to watch his videos at 1.25x-1.35x speeds.
  • He believes Linux Mint to be a fabulous distro. He even praised Zorin OS.
  • He developed an obsession with Raspberry Pi and other SBCs.

That said, his ExplainingComputers YouTube channel has only 676 videos after 18 years, of which only 54 are members-only, something that I consider to be within the limits of mental sanity.

And here’s how Christopher Barnatt can provide some really useful educational videos.

Back in February, when I wrote that SSDs are not magic, I later added in a comment a link to the 3-2-1 backup rule (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite) as explained by Christopher Barnatt: 📽️ Apr. 5, 2026: Long-Term Data Storage for Home Users.

A screenshot from that video:

Now, an update caught my eye: 📽️ May 31, 2026: Data Refresh for Long-Term Storage. I appreciated the part about refreshing SMR hard drives.

I couldn’t care less about the “specialist apps” recommended by him. They’re all utter crap. But there is a video I missed, and I shouldn’t have!

📽️ Feb. 9, 2025: Explaining Hard Drive Technologies: SMR, HAMR, ePMR & more! There are links about those crazy, irresponsible technologies in the video’s description. WD, Seagate, and Toshiba: they all used corporate greed to create the most unreliable HDDs of the 21st century!

By the way, this one is still relevant in the context: 📽️ Feb. 25, 2024: Storage Media Life Expectancy: SSDs, HDDs & More!

Let me add a few stills from the video regarding today’s crazy HDD technologies.

Conventional Magnetic Recording:

Shielded Magnetic Recording:

Plenty of shit:

We’re completely fucked up! Also, don’t forget that data on SSDs silently fades away, and no, reading it once a year doesn’t guarantee shit!

Why doesn’t that Apocalypse come quicker?