How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap Heap

Re:How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap... by hga on Tuesday November 25, 2014 @12:04PM (#8658523)

The Whirlwind Project seriously considered using a microwave "delay line", a round trip microwave connection a long distance across the state of Massachusetts. Ended up using Williams tubes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_tube) as did the Mark 1 and a number of other early computers (their random access had an advantage over delay lines), and eventually invented 3D magnetic core memory.

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Re:How the World’s First Computer Was Rescued From the Scrap... by Someone on Tuesday November 25, 2014 @02:12PM (#8659144)

It has also been proposed to use a laser and one of the reflectors on the moon. That would give you a 300,000 km storage line. That proposal wasn't serious, though, if only because it is a challenge to keep that reflector in your field of view.

Another impractical delay line, but with variable delay, is the internet. You can hide some bits in a DNS request or in a Google search.

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