history is hard (was: Microsoft open sources GWBASIC)

Fred Cisin [mailto:cisin at xenosoft.com] wrote on Saturday, May 23, 2020 11:28 PM <snip> Some don't matter; some can be enough to ruin a good anecdote; some create a different story. I'm saddened that Jim Adkisson and Don Massaro of Shugart have changed their story and now deny that the size of the 5.25" disk was based on Dr. Wang pointing to a bar napkin. The "Bar Napkin Disk" was a GREAT anecdote; now ruined. <http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102657925- 05-01-acc.pdf> http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2013/05/102657925-0 5-01-acc.pdf <snip> It's probably OK for Fred to be saddened at the demise of a good story but isn't it better to have the true story? Neither Jim Adkisson nor Don Massaro of Shugart ever promulgated the urban legend of Dr. Wang and the napkin in the bar - as near as I can tell it was invented from whole cloth by Jim Porter who repeated it so many times that it became legend. The final media size was determined by Shugart Engineering led by Al Chou in Wang and other systems. As near as I can tell it was not the same size as a ?standard? cocktail napkin. The idea for a smaller FDD with cocktail napkin sized medium did come through Adkisson but it originated at his customers such as Lanier, Phillips and Varisyst among others before it was taken to Wang. History is hard - I researched this for the Computer History Museum and prevented the legend from making it into their exhibits. Tom