Fascinating. Despite being a Gibson fan I didn't know about this poem or its distribution, nor that he had this kind of technical know-how -- though I don't find myself surprised
I never saw the real thing, but copies of it were all over the now (fittingly) long gone BBS's I was using at the time. I don't think Gibson did the distribution. The artists book at least was done by Dennis Ashbaugh[1] and he might have been behind the software as well? The concept apparently came from the publisher, Kevin Begos Jr.
Another bit of recommended Gibson ephemera, if you haven't seen it already, is the documentary No Maps for these Territories[1], which certainly had lots of biographical details I didn't know about.
I guess it tracks with him being able to write intricate and detailed sci-fi, the man knew what he was talking about. There's a reason he's still revered as one of the greatest examples of the genre.
Yay art! (Albeit hugged close to death, this morning)
Story:
I owned a 20MB hard drive, attached to the side of my Amiga 1200, in the 1990's. Internet was a discrete, dial-up experience. One morning the drive clanged unnaturally loudly. And the shaky desk on which I computed transmitted a strong thud force. My HD had decided to slam its head into its cylinder spindle. I believed I would lose all my work. I backed it up, and later Maxtor honored its warranty, ultimately restoring my precious files.
Gibson's poetry experience reminds me of this moment - all my special data being threatened to go, "poof!"
When my first HD for my Amiga refused to spin up one day (an A590 with whatever brand of drive was inside it; I can't recall), I ended up opening it up, and manually "helping" the motor. Once it had spun up, I was able to access the files again. I meticulously backed everything up (to floppies... it was only a 20MB drive as well), but could not afford a replacement at that moment. I was able to keep using the drive for another 6 months at least before I replaced it. Every time I cold-started the machine I would have to open the enclosure and help spin it up with my fingers... (of course being very careful about backing up anything essential regularly).
I'm impressed no bit-errors crept into your drive, at least none that you mention here. Did you use a clean-room (a humid bathroom) or did you just YOLO it?
