Famous April Fool's Day Hoaxes

Write Only Memory

Outline of a Human Palm Superimposed on a Computer Chip
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WOM

The IT industry is justly famous for its ability to produce large quantities of Write-Only documentation, however physical Write Only Memory (WOM) seems to have been more dificult to achieve. This much awaited technical breakthrough was announced to the world by Signetics on April 1st 1972.

The full-colour datasheet produced by Signetics gave complete details of their new WOM chip. To put it simply, data could be written to it but never read back. This was achived by the use of technology such as neu channel MOS devices. These, according to the datasheet:

"enhance or deplete regardless of gate polarity, either simultaneously or randomly. Sometimes not at all."

For full technical details of this breakthrough see the Official Signetics 25120 Data Sheet (pdf).

It would be interesting to record an mp3 to WOM, if only to finally have something useful to do with a wombat. (*)

(*) Play WOM of course...

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