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Memory & Storage

Magnetic core memory

Cores from the MIT Whirlwind computer.

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How Computers Remember

Computers are master jugglers, multitasking as we play music, solve equations, surf the web, and write novels. They also have become vast, searchable libraries of everything from banking records and encyclopedias to grandma’s recipes.

These abilities require two kinds of memory: main memory (fast and comparatively expensive) and storage (big, slower, and cheap). Both types have rapidly and continually improved.

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