The Implications of Electronic Serial Memories*

Advances in such new memory technologies as charge-coupled devices, magnetic bubble memories, and beam access memories have opened avenues for innovative applications of these computer elements in future computing systems. These quasi-serial electronic technologies compete on one hand with the random access memories (bipolar, MOS, and core) and, on the other hand, with disk memories (fixed-head disk and moving-head disk). There are important functional properties common to all these technologies, and their applications as computer memories will depend upon how successfully the systems designers appreciate–and then apply–these characteristics to computer system design.