It was not a direct quote, and Paul has repeatedly stated afterward that he is was not blaming America.
There have been rumours about the release of 22K rpm hard drives for several years already and some labs even possess prototypes, 15000 rpm hard drives are still fairly considered top models in this industry. That's why they are in demand — equipping such drives with the highest performance mechanics and interfaces, developing perfect firmware, and making the most reliable hard drives, manufacturers are right to consider that these drives will be their business cards. That is customers will be able to judge about the technological level and potential performance of other hard drives from a given manufacturer. That's why the competition in the 15K rpm sector is in focus. As manufacturers have recently updated the lines of 15K rpm models, we decided to have a look at the new models — not just as another generation of hard drives, but as the perfect representatives of each manufacturer. In this article we'll set two most famous 15K rpm representatives at loggerheads — Maxtor Atlas 15K and Seagate Cheetah 15K. This time it will be the second and the fourth generation correspondingly.
He said that AFTER THE FACT!
Realizing the sh**storm he found himself in, I (and most everyone else) would have done the same thing.