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You take picture of a ROM because in the past we did not have technology to have permanent non-volatile storage on a chip. We later had eproms and eeproms which
by twawaaay 4y ago
You take picture of a ROM because in the past we did not have technology to have permanent non-volatile storage on a chip. We later had eproms and eeproms which were programmable and re-programmable but they were also expensive and problematic.
So the main solution to have any programming on the chip was to actually etch it permanently. That's why we can read it today.
- fallat 4y agoIt's also why it make sense to collect Game Boy games - they'll be playable for basically ever :D
- twawaaay 4y agoNot only that, but also old gaming hardware can be maintained basically forever. Or even recreated from relatively simple components. There is no shortage of kits that you can assemble yourself. Old electronics is relatively very easy to understand, debug and fix. Well within ability of an average electronics engineering enthusiast like me. Contrasted with new games and new gaming hardware which will become useless in couple years when Micro$oft or $ony or Nint€ndo decide it no longer makes business sense for them to maintain their online infrastructure to support those old consoles and games.
- HeckFeck 4y agoMy SNES still boots first time every time and it is inching towards 33 years old. I've never needed to open the case to maintain it. Meanwhile I went through two Xbox 360s in 4 years which RROD'd themselves. I know the hardware is magnitudes of orders more capable, but the old kit is winning on the Darwinian front. It'll probably still work when my grandchildren uncover it from the attic. It might even play the Super Mario World outro theme when the heat death of the solar system arrives.