3 ms·
Some really early computers stored bits in waves in mercury. A series of waves would be started at one end of a tube full of mercury and they would be read bac
by jcoffland 7y ago
Some really early computers stored bits in waves in mercury. A series of waves would be started at one end of a tube full of mercury and they would be read back when they arrived at the other end. The memory of course then had to be refreshed. Core memory was however much more successful.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_line_memory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_line_memory
- agumonkey 7y agoSame idea was used between satellite and ground, wave was used as a memory that could be reused when back to station.
- winrid 7y agoHoly crap that's so cool. Thanks for that info.
- agumonkey 7y agoSome teacher that worked for the french ministry in the 80s told us that. It makes sense but I never found data on it. I'm not 100% sure it was done because he was a bit of a big mouth but at the same time he was in the field for decades so..
- winrid 7y agoah yeah I haven't found anything. Still a cool idea, however I'd imagine you'd have issues with data loss.
- Avery3R 7y agoAn example of delay line memory using a wire that vibrates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIx2x-Q2fE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIx2x-Q2fE