Re: core memory, Historical evolution of CPU perf

According to Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net>:

Compared to the alternatives at the time, it was the fastest
gun in the west.

At the time of 11/20 debute (1970) it already was not.

>
"at the time" was in the late 1950s when it was first proposed,
and through much if not all of the 1960s.

Core memory was invented in the late 1940s. An Wang did well known work in 1949,
and MIT's Whirlwind was the first working computer with core designed by Jay
Forrester in 1953. I think the IBM 704 in 1954 was the first commercial system
with core. By 1960 it had replaced all of its competitors including Williams
tubes and delay lines.

Core soon wasn't the fastest memory, which is why the Atlas and IBM 360/85 had
caches in the mid 1960s. But it remained the best overall for a combination of
speed, cost, and reliability for another decade.

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