Artifact Details

Title

30 mil magnetic core memory samples

Catalog Number

X1561.98B

Type

Physical object

Description

30 mil magnetic core memory samples are housed in a plastic box. Text on insert inside box includes "Ferramic 30 mil core / Part No. mechanical/ Control No. sample / Quantity 200". The engineering samples show various size ferrite cores. Core memory, developed by Jay Forrester at M.I.T. and independently by An Wang at Harvard, was first demonstrated in May of 1952, and became the dominant form of computer memory until the mid- to late 1970s. (The last core memory was manufactured in 1980 by DEC). A steady reduction in size and improvements in switching speeds occurred throughout core memory's almost-thirty year lifetime. Core memory was eventually supplanted by semiconductor Random Access Memory (RAM) chips.

Manufacturer

Indiana General Corporation

Place Manufactured

U.S.

Dimensions

in box: 1/2 in x 2 1/4 in x 1 3/4 in

Category

Memory/core

Credit

Courtesy of Andrew B. & Patricia S. Alexander

Lot Number

X1561.98