Uploaded March 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Long before silicon memory, the first computers used delay line storage. The EDSAC reconstruction team at The National Museum of Computing were faced with decisions about how to replicate the post-war EDSAC's computer memory. A mercury delay line, as in the original, was no longer feasible, so what might be a close substitute? Peter Linnington, a volunteer on the EDSAC team explains.
Peter also talks about Alan Turing's idea of using gin as the delay line medium here: tnmoc.org/notes-from-the-museum/2020/3/31/delay-line-storage-in-edsac-pick-your-poison
Long before silicon memory, the first computers used delay line storage. The EDSAC reconstruction team at The National Museum of Computing were faced with decisions about how to replicate the post-war EDSAC's computer memory. A mercury delay line, as in the original, was no longer feasible, so what might be a close substitute? Peter Linnington, a volunteer on the EDSAC team explains.
Peter also talks about Alan Turing's idea of using gin as the delay line medium here: tnmoc.org/notes-from-the-museum/2020/3/31/delay-line-storage-in-edsac-pick-your-poison
