21 Oct
2010
21 Oct
'10
9:49 a.m.
In the late 1970s, a friend joined the US Navy and
served on aircraft. ?He told me the navigation computer for their plane used a magnetic
drum memory. ?I'm a little surprised it wasn't magnetic core by that point, except
that (as pointed out elsewhere on this thread) military equipment doesn't necessarily
follow the 'bleeding edge' of commercial or (especially) consumer systems.
It is not that the military is behind, but rather that they
(especially the Navy) tends to keep things in service for a long time.
20 to 30 year lifespans for electronic equipment are not rare.
Successful designs can remain current for just as long.
The old adage of "if it aint broke" certainly applies. One of my Rolm
(actually Loral, after the buyout) machines has core memory, and it
was built in the 1990s.
--
Will