The Williams tube, better called the Williams-Kilburn tube (after inventors Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn), developed in 1946 and 1947, was a cathode ray tube used as a computer memory to electronically store binary data.
It was the first random-access digital storage device, and was used successfully in several early computers.
Williams and Kilburn applied for British patents on Dec. 11, 1946 and Oct. 2, 1947, followed by US patent applications on Dec. 10, 1947 (U.S. Patent 2,951,176) and May 16, 1949 (U.S. Patent 2,777,971).
Read more about Williams Tube: Working Principle, Development
Famous quotes containing the words williams and/or tube:
“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.”
—Tennessee Williams (1914–1983)
“One of the great natural phenomena is the way in which a tube of toothpaste suddenly empties itself when it hears that you are planning a trip, so that when you come to pack it is just a twisted shell of its former self, with not even a cubic millimeter left to be squeezed out.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)