Hewlett-Packard introduced the Kittyhawk drive (also known as the Kittyhawk Personal Storage Module) in 1992, in 20 and 40 MB versions and with a 1.3-inch form factor, it was at the time the smallest hard disk drive available. The 1.8-inch hard disk drive was only launched the previous year, and the 1-inch Microdrive would not be introduced until 1999.
Manufactured for HP by Citizen Watch Co. Ltd of Japan, the Kittyhawk was designed with portable devices in mind and used a motion sensor to park the heads if it detected a fall.
HP suggested that the drive would be good for pen-based and handheld systems that it felt would soon become popular, as its cost per MB at the time was much lower than flash memory. In the event, it was only used in a few systems such as the Dauphin DTR-1 palmtop computer, and it sold poorly, with only 160,000 units produced before it was withdrawn in 1994.
Today, it is used as a case study of the failure of marketing innovative technology.
Figures
Dimensions: 50.8 mm × 36.5 mm × 10.5 mm
Capacity: 20 MB or 40 MB