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Burning a Magnesium NeXT Cube (1993)

Date: Wed, 24 Mar 93 19:11:02 EST From: simsong To: druby Subject: cube burning Cc: edit To: Dan Ruby, Editor, NeXTWORLD Magazine From: Simson L. Garfinkel, Senior Editor, NeXTWORLD Magazine Subject: NeXTCube Serial Number AA001032 Date: March 16, 1993 Dear Dan, I am writing this memo to explain what happened to the case our NeXTCube Computer, Serial Number AA001032.

Over the next few months, I tried to think of some way to ignite the magnesium.One idea that I had was to use a mixture of potassium permaganate and glycerin, which bursts into flames and produces an enormous amount of heat after just a few minutes.I asked a chemist friend if he could supply me with the ingredients: he suggested that I simply use a MAP gas torch. On Monday, the day before the burn, I was walking through the NeXTWORLD ofoffices, wondering if I could get a second computer --- a "backup" computer.Looking around the offices, I found an old Cube that didn't see to be functioning.It was missing a hard disk and a CPU board.I asked our system manager if I could borrow it as a backup.He said "sure. I clicked away on my camera.Eric took pictures with his.But the whole emotional tone was wrong.This wasn't the triumph of a burning magnesium case, setting the world on fire.This was a collapsing metal failure, melting into a pool of fire and being consumed by it.Perhaps it was a more accurate representation of NeXT's true reality.After all, physics doesn't lie.How were we to know, when we had set out that morning, that in our brief four-hour experiment, we would recapitulate NeXT Computer's experience as a hardware manufacturer?I looked at the burning cube.White-smoke streamed upwards.At its base, red embers were emerging.The back wall collapsed but the front wall still plainly retained the Cube's original shape.I chuckled, then started laughing so hard that tears came to my eyes.One thing was definately clear:

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