[G4] The Term " Flash "

[Doug McNutt]

At 08:53 -0500 3/9/10, Richard Klein wrote:
>I'm not sure how the word "flash" came to be used. Maybe it comes from erasable, programmable ROM chips (EPROMs) that require(d) the use of IR light to erase them prior to reprogramming?


Actually that was UV light. Sunlight was pretty good. Quartz windowed mercury lamps were sold for the task.

I believe the etymology of the term comes from a photographic technique that opened a shutter, fired off a magnesium flashbulb and then closed the shutter. The film, when you think about it, is just a one-time programmable memory.
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