Throughout the history of computers, one aspect has plagued and restricted its growth more than any other: permanent storage. From the very first computers that used punched cards and tape for input ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This device was made for the U.S.

When it’s the 1950s and you are tasked to design a computer system that features not only CPU registers but also a certain amount of RAM, you do not have a lot of options. At this point in time, ...

Hard disk drives sure have come a long way, baby. In the 1950s, storage hardware was measured in feet — and in tons. Back then, the era’s state-of-the-art computer drive was found in IBM’s RAMAC 305; ...

The very first all-electronic memory was the Williams-Kilburn tube, developed in 1947 at Manchester University. It used a cathode ray tube to store bits as dots on the screen’s surface. The evolution ...

Long before the concept of spin had been realized, the phenomenon of magnetism was a source of fascination and curiosity. The first scientific record of magnetism was made by the Greek philosopher ...