write-only language
= W =
Wrong Thing
write-only memory n.
The obvious antonym to
`read-only memory'. Out of frustration with the long and
seemingly useless chain of approvals required of component
specifications, during which no actual checking seemed to occur, an
engineer at Signetics once created a specification for a write-only
memory and included it with a bunch of other specifications to be
approved. This inclusion came to the attention of Signetics
management only when regular customers started calling and
asking for pricing information. Signetics published a corrected
edition of the data book and requested the return of the
`erroneous' ones. Later, in 1972, Signetics bought a
double-page spread in "Electronics" magazine's April issue and
used the spec as an April Fools' Day joke. Instead of the more
conventional characteristic curves, the 25120 "fully encoded, 9046
x N, Random Access, write-only-memory" data sheet included
diagrams of "bit capacity vs. Temp.", "Iff vs. Vff", "Number
of pins remaining vs. number of socket insertions", and "AQL
vs. selling price". The 25120 required a 6.3 VAC VFF supply, a
+10V VCC, and VDD of 0V, +/- 2%.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.