[Mel Dada]

does anyone know if a Kloss Model One radio put near a powerbook hard drive is in any way damaging to the computer or to files on the hard drive due to magnets. I have lots of audio and video media on my powerbook 80 gig drive. I know that when working in video it is important to keep unshielded speakers away from hard drive and audio media. Any help or links appreciated.

[tooki]

Nonsense. There are extraordinarily powerful magnets right inside the hard drive, literally millimeters away from the media. A small speaker a foot away at normal listening volume doesn't stand a chance of causing even the most minute damage.

As for video hard drives -- well, a hard drive's a hard drive, period. Doesn't matter what's on it. As for "audio media", it depends on what kind of media it is, how close the speakers are, and how big the speakers are. Any optical or magneto-optical media is completely immune, and most magnetic media would have to be sitting right next to the speaker's magnet to suffer any damage.

Really, the only things that are genuinely sensitive to magnetic fields from speakers are CRTs, because they use extremely sensitive magnetics to deflect the electron beams. LCDs are completely indifferent to magnetic fields.

tooki