Semiconductor memory was really really expensive until it hit the 16-64kbit/chip level and then it had a bit of a crisis because they suddenly all went a bit fl

Semiconductor memory was really really expensive until it hit the 16-64kbit/chip level and then it had a bit of a crisis because they suddenly all went a bit flaky (turned out to be alpha particles in the ceramic packages) - that was around about 1980 - at the time it was a bit of a mystery and people were wondering if memory would be able to get any denser and still be reliuable. I think we bought our first 'big' machine with semiconductor memory around then (a Vax 11/780)