[www.keralites.net] What Was The First Random-Access Memory Device?

 

1) SRAM
2) Magnetic Core Memory
3) Williams-Kilburn Tubes
4) DRAM

Answer: Williams-Kilburn Tubes

A distant cousin to our modern DDR RAM modules, Williams-Kilburn Tubes were the first random-access memory device. Invented in 1946 by Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn, the memory units were a microcosmic example of computers of the age. They were bulky, terribly sensitive to environmental conditions, had to be hand-tuned, and were housed inside vacuum-sealed cathode ray tube.


The tubes wrote binary data by projecting it onto the front of the tube just like a television CRT tube projects an image, only in the case of the Williams-Kilburn tubes they were creating negative and positive charges that could be read by a plate positioned over the end of the tube, not an image that would readily recognizable to an observer�some rare tubes did had a phosphor coating which allowed computer operators to see where the tube was writing for diagnostic purposes. Each tube was capable of storing 512-1024 bits of data.

The Williams-Kilburn was used in many early computers, most notably the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine�the first computer with electronically stored programs.

--
Posted By SOFT MINDS

---

www.keralites.net

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

• New Members 67

Visit Your Group

KERALITES - A moderated eGroup exclusively for Keralites...
To subscribe send a mail to Keralites-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Send your posts to Keralites@yahoogroups.com.
Send your suggestions to Keralites-owner@yahoogroups.com.

To unsubscribe send a mail to Keralites-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Homepage: www.keralites.net

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

.

__,_._,___