Magnetic Core Memory - Hewlett-Packard

About this Artwork This artwork celebrates the invention of the magnetic core memory. Before the proliferation of solid-state memory chips such as the Intel 1103 DRAM, core memory dominated the computer industry as the memory technology of choice. Core Memory was invented by Jay Forrester in 1951. Core, the forerunner of today's solid state RAM, was quickly implemented as the memory of choice for all computers, and dominated until the early 70s. Binary information was represented in core by magnetizing the magnetic rings, or cores, with one of two different polarities. Each core's polarity could be detected and then magnetized again. These two polarities represented 1s and 0s. Once ubiquitous in computers in the 60’s and 70’s, core memory was replaced in the early 70’s by solid state DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips, such as the Intel 1103. The term “core” for a computer’s memory is still sometimes used. A formatted report of the contents of a computer’s memory is still referr