Divorceable Offense

Todd Headrick is the product planner for Windows Home Server. He was the first person I hired onto the team way back…


Here’s Todd doing a great demo of Windows Home Server at CES. Near the end you’ll hear him utter the phrase “Divorcable Offense”.


I coined this term to help make the point about how serious the consequences of loosing precious digital memories might be. Prior to the advent of digital cameras about 10 years ago, noone really stored data on home PCs that was truely irreplacable. Most stuff (like financial records) is can be recreated. But not photos of the kids. And if you were to ‘lose’ these precious files due to a mistake, incompetence, or inattention your spouse might not look too kindly on you.


I have personal experience here. You see about 15 years ago I accidentally recorded over one of our VHS video tapes of my wedding…with Star Trek 4. Julie was not amused. But, being the incompetent nit wit of a husband that I am, a few years later I repeated my mistake: this time I recorded over a video tape of my daughter’s ultrasound…with Aliens 4. Julie, God bless her, didn’t divorce me. However, I can tell you that she has NOT forgotten.


In fact, just this morning I got an email from her that read



fyi it was not ‘one of our wedding video tapes’ that you taped over but the ‘only tape’ that you taped over.  I noticed there is no mention of the ultrasound tape of Christine and Alien 4 either… J


So consider what you are doing to protect your precious digital memories. Are they all stored on a single hard disk platter spinning at 7200 revolutions per minute with a magnetic head hovering microns above? Wouldn’t you like a product that simply takes care of making sure everything is backed up and protected…like Windows Home Server?


[EDIT: 4:34pm PST – John Vert, a fellow Microsoftie tells me “This is not always the husband’s fault. My wife did this, recording over the ONLY copy of our daughter birth with her favorite soap… All My Children.]


Video: Windows Home Server CES 2007

1 comment


  1. OMG – Alien 4 was bad. Not as bad as Alien cubed, but it was terrible all the same. At least it was appropriate though – they do gestate in the human body, just like the original content of the tape! 🙂

    They invented this new technology a few years back to stop you recording over a tape you want – it is a little tab you break off – much easier than breaking off a long term relationship. 🙂

    I always say that digital does not exist unless it can be found in at least 2 different locations. Try proving otherwise when you delete the one copy you had!

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