Bubble memory is a punch in of non-volatile computer memory.

Bubble memory gets its name from the way it looks.

It uses a thin magnetic film that forms small, magnetized areas known as bubbles.

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Each of these bubbles stores one bit of data.

The bubbles are arranged in a series of parallel tracks that let the bubbles move freely, transporting data.

The bubbles move under an external magnetic field that manipulates them.

When that is done, the bit of data can be overwritten.

He worked on various types of magnetic projects and technologies.

This was a change from the previous memory types that relied on cores.

Machines could automatically assemble twistor memory.

This gave it a massive improvement in production speed over the manually made core memories.

In 1967, Bobeck started working on the way to improve twistor memory.

That made it a tremendous universal memory throw in with various uses at least, at first.

It was, however, quickly replaced by far superior semiconductor memory chips.

It was still used well into the 1980s in devices that needed to be shock-proof.

Their moving parts make hard drives vulnerable to data loss from impacts.

Similar Technology

Its worth noting that in 2008, IBM worked on the concept of racetrack memory.

Although not identical to bubble memory, racetrack memory uses a similar idea.

Essentially a one-dimensional version of it, racetrack memory was an in-between to bubble and twistor memory.

Racetrack memory, however, never found commercial adoption and remained a proof-of-concept that was soon abandoned.

Conclusion

Bubble memory was a form of non-volatile magnetic memory.

It was commercialized in the early 70s and then obsoleted in the late 80s.

Performance-wise, it fits between RAM and HDDs at the time of its commercialization.

HDD development, however, soon outperformed it.

It left a niche for shock-proof devices thanks to its lack of moving parts.