Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Technologies

Just as some kinds of memory play different roles in the operation of your computer, the various kinds of memory work differently and are made differently. Read-write memory is optimized for speed. It has to run as fast as it can to try to keep up with the high speeds of modern microprocessors—and it inevitably loses the race. Read-only memory, on the other hand, takes a more leisurely look at what it remembers, opting for intransigence instead of incandescent speed.

Both major divisions of the memory world have also endured a long and twisted evolution. Read-only memory has quested ever-higher speed by dashing from one technology to the next. The old withers and dies, soon forgotten—and when not forgotten, expensive. Older technology ...