Editing Write-only memory (joke) (section)

{{Short description|Humorous fictional type of computer memory}}

'''Write-only memory''' ('''WOM'''), the opposite of [[read-only memory]] (ROM), began as a humorous reference to a memory device that could be written to but not read, as there seemed to be no practical use for a memory circuit from which data could not be retrieved. However, it was eventually recognized that [[write-only memory (engineering)|write-only memory]] also describes certain functionalities in [[microprocessor]] systems.<ref>{{cite book|title=1976 WESCON technical papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2klGAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=May 20, 2013|date=September 14–17, 1976|publisher=Western Electronic Show and Convention|location=Los Angeles, California|page=17|archive-date=June 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627174515/http://books.google.com/books?id=2klGAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The concept is still often used as a [[joke]] or [[euphemism]] for a failed memory device.

The first use of the term is generally attributed to [[Signetics]], whose ''write-only memory'' literature, created in 1972 as in-house practical joke, is frequently referenced within the [[electronics industry]],<ref name="origin">{{cite web | url = http://portal.national.com/rap/Story/WOMorigin.html | title = The origin of the WOM – the "Write Only Memory" | first = Robert A | last = Pease | author-link = Bob Pease | publisher = National Semiconductor | accessdate = 2011-11-28 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110910041413/http://portal.national.com/rap/Story/WOMorigin.html | archivedate = 10 September 2011 | url-status = dead }}.</ref> a staple of software engineering lexicons,<ref name = Jargon>{{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111107100120/http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/W/write-only-memory.html | accessdate = 28 November 2011 | archivedate = 7 November 2011 | url = http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/W/write-only-memory.html | title =write-only memory|work = The [[Jargon File]] | publisher = CatB | editor-link = Eric S. Raymond | editor-last = Raymond | editor-first = Eric S}}</ref> and included in "best hoaxes" collections.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}