— What was the reason for incorporating hard disk protection? Terashima: We decided that this feature was essential, partly because the VAIO SZ was designed to be used by many people in business, and partly because there are growing needs for security features in the market as a whole. — Is it true that you developed your own utility for this purpose? Koide: For example, it's not something that you can achieve with just a utility. Firmware, BIOS (strictly speaking not the BIOS, but you can think of it that way), and so on are crucial to this technology. In other words, you can't simply throw in some off-the-shelf utility and achieve the same sort of hard disk protection that we now have on the VAIO SZ. After all, battery life was one of our concerns, and if you leave everything up to a utility, you're going to be using CPU cycles. In order to reduce power consumption you should rely as little as possible on the CPU. By moving tasks to the BIOS, etc., and putting as little load on the CPU as possible, you can make a big difference in overall power savings. So this was how we approached it. It wasn't enough to simply ensure that the hard disk was protected. We took overall performance, power consumption and all these other factors into account as we worked out the optimum way to implement this feature on the VAIO. Kawata: One is apt to think that since there was already something similar around, it was just a matter of us adopting that approach, but in fact there were many aspects to this for which the off-the-shelf solution was of no help at all. Anyway, the type of vibration depends on the actual chassis — there's even vibration in everyday use, when one is typing away at the keyboard of a computer on a desk, so you can't simply make do with something that's available. These differences have to be taken into account. For us it was a process of trial and error: we started from scratch, testing and checking as we went. — What features of the hard disk protection on the VAIO SZ set it apart from the competitors' offerings? Koide: We haven't simply installed a mechanism for preventing the hard disk from getting damaged when it's knocked or subjected to ballistic shock. In order to provide protection without impacting convenience, we have given the VAIO a processing mechanism that can handle various situations. Although we are relative newcomers to this field, I think our design concept is one step ahead of the hard disk protection features offered by other companies, and that's what sets us apart. — So it wasn't just a protection mechanism that you were developing? Various different factors were taken into consideration? Koide: Yes, we also wanted to make sure it was attractive from the point of view of the user. It's not just a simple matter of protecting the hard disk from damage. In order to convey a clear message that Sony is serious about protection, we took special care with the utility GUI — we wanted to make sure that protection is visible. If you glance at it now, you probably think that the choices are fairly straightforward, but we travelled a long path of trial and error before we reached that point. There were times when it didn't work, and times when we were disheartened, but in the end it was exhilarating — "We did it!" — In many cases it's the job of the software to make things more convenient for the user, but since the real functionality of this utility is behind the scenes, it must have been difficult for you. Koide: From the point of view of convenience, we certainly don't want to affect performance, but we also want to protect the hard disk, and getting that balance right was tricky. If you make the mechanism too sensitive, just a minor shock will shut the disk down, but then you have to provide proper protection where and when it's needed. Fine tuning is required: tests had to be repeated again and again until we got it just right. — So you had to work hard on the interface? Koide: You bet. At first, there was a mismatch between the shock image and the graphic image . It wasn't easy, but with fine-tuning we eventually settled on the present design. Kawata: As for the GUI, some people thought that it was going too far for a simple protection mechanism, that we didn't even need it. But then there was a desire to advertise this particular feature of the computer, so we took pains over the interface, which does also serve the purpose of showing that the protection is working. Hanamura: Incidentally, this central rubber pad (on the underneath of the computer) is for hard disk protection. We added it when we were told that it was essential. Kawata: It's needed to cope with the extra vibration caused when one pounds the keys. Koide: Take sound, for example. The user may not be aware of it, but it can be picked up by the software as vibration. Now if that happens, it may not be possible to determine whether it is detecting sound or actual physical vibration. So that is why we asked them to add cushioning. In order to prevent internal factors like this resulting in false alarms, I think it's essential to have the co-operation of the mechanical design team. It's not the sort of feature that you can set up easily by yourself. Kawata: Yes, it's the sort of feature that depends on the co-operation of everyone — in software, electrical, and mechanical design.