Holographic Crystal Memory

A thread of 2 messages, 6 March 1991 to 7 March 1991, in the order they were sent.

#2197 Holographic Crystal Memory

FELLOWS STEVEN B · 6 March 1991

Jerry Williams discussed Holographic data storage in the kind of
detail that I like.  But one other thing should be mentioned:

Packaging

The crystal itself could be 1/40 cm on a side, but fit into a package
the size of a domino.  I could see that customers would want this for
several reasons:

1)  If it is too small, it can be easily lost.

2)  It needs to be protected from harmful elements:  atmospheres, rain,
dust, and coffee to name a few.  (How many of you drink coffee or something
else while you are at the computer?)

Also, the crystal could be made of a material that easily dissolves, and
thus moisture in the air would ruin the surface.

3)  Big enough so that a label can be placed on it.  (Important!!!! Would
not want to load "Debbie Does Gushemegga"  by accident instead of "Fluffy
goes to the Circus" when showing it to the kids.


4)  A company would never sell a tremendous amount of data storage.  They
want their customers to continue buying their product, so give them 5
hours.  Thus, the chip could be very small, allowing more to be sold per
production unit.  One could say this makes the company more profit, but
more importantly it keeps the cost of the product down (remember your
supply and demand curves , and rate of return from economics?).


Can anyone else think of other reasons why a small chip would be placed in
larger package?  The package could still be the size of a domino, but I
would imagine it would be a little bigger, for the above reasons.  This
would not apply to computers, but then they also might have a special
packaging for the memory.  Remember, the company who manufacturers the
computer might buy its memory cells from the Holographic company.  The
Holographic company might make special memory cells (hold more data because
they are bigger) but they might still include them in some sort of package
for protection.

Steven B. Fellows
[email removed]

#2200 Re: Holographic Crystal Memory

Jerry Williams · 7 March 1991 · reply to #2197

In TML article (2197), Steven Fellows writes:

> Packaging
>
> The crystal itself could be 1/40 cm on a side, but fit into a package
> the size of a domino.  I could see that customers would want this for
> several reasons:

Yes, that was what I meant by saying that the (usable) crystal might be
only 1/40 cm on a side.  Look at modern ICs.  The "brains" of the chip
are often less than a cm on a side.

- - --------------------

> Can anyone else think of other reasons why a small chip would be placed in
> larger package?  The package could still be the size of a domino, but I
> would imagine it would be a little bigger, for the above reasons.

I can think of several reasons:

o It would be difficult to put a 1/40 cm crystal into a computer and
  expect it to line up perfectly so that it could be read.  You would,
  in the very least, need something to align the crystal.

o There might be some kind of mechanism for actually GETTING TO the
  data on the crystal.  This could be as simple as a lens, or as
  complicated as a laser read/write head.

o By using a standard exterior size, you could package different size
  (in MB storage) crystals into the same (physical) size package.
  Similar to the way you have double versus high-density disks.  This
  would let the same computer read any size crystal (especially if the
  crystals contain their own read/write heads) without requiring a new
  holocrystal reader.

o There's also aesthetics.  Everyone thinks of a holocrystal as a
  "crystal".  The packaging might actually be more "crystal"-looking
  than the crystal itself is.  It could also come in different colors
  or shapes.

- - --------------------

The lens I mentioned earlier gives me an idea of how to label the
crystals.  The label itself could be tiny, embedded in the crystal,
but a lens on the holocrystal could make it readable to human eyes.
You'd probably have to use a machine to label the crystals, but who
cares?

- - --------------------

By the way, if you're interested, here's my idea of a holocrystal:

  Holocrystals in general look like crystals.  They come in all colors
  and shapes, but all crystals have a 2 cm square base,  You can look
  into this base to read the label on the crystal.  To attach the
  crystal to a holo-reader, simply "plug" the crystal into it.  It
  attaches itself magnetically (or something similar to magnetically),
  and lines itself up this way.  Some crystals actually contain several
  "programs".  You can access the different ones by either turning the
  crystal (allowing up to four programs), or attaching a different base
  (if the crystal has multiple bases).  This would be mostly used for
  video (computers could access the crystal randomly), but would have
  other uses (Corporal Flak, switch the computer to auto-evade! 8-).

  The holoreader would be either covered while not in use or would use
  some advanced technology to keep itself free from dust.  I prefer the
  latter, since the crystals could use the same technology.

  Military holocrystals tend to look more like dominoes, with the base
  occupying 1/2 of the face of the domino.  They can also contain as
  may as four programs, but usually only do this by having four bases.
  They would probably be color-coded so it would be abvious which
  program was currently running.

  Civilian holocrystals more often look like cubes or pyramids, but
  come in a variety of shapes, including the "1/2 domino" compact
  crystal which is very popular for use with hand-comps.  The cube
  shape is popular among video libraries, since it can contain as
  many as 24 "programs", although those who can afford a large
  number of crystals more often use pyramids, which are a bit easier
  to keep track of (especially if they are color-coded).

  Military crystal (showing one base):

           .-------.
          /       /|
         /       / |
        /       / /
       /_______/ /
      / ....  /|/
     / ....  /|/
    / ....  / /
   / ....  / /
  .-------. /
  |       |/
  |_______|

  Civilian crystals (showing one base):

       .-------.
      / ....  /|
     / ....  / |
    / ....  /  |
   / ....  /   |
  .-------.    |
  |       |   /
  |       |  /
  |       | /
  |       |/
  |_______|

       .-------.
      / ....  /|
     / ....  / |
    / ....  / /
   / ....  / /
  .-------. /
  |       |/
  |_______|

       .-------.
      / ....  /
     / ....  / /
    / ....  /
   / ....  /  /
  .-------.
   \      |  /
    \     |
     \    | /
      \   |
       \  |/
        \ |
         \|

Anyway, that's my conception of a holocrystal.  Your mileage may vary.

- - --------------------

Jerry Williams
[email removed]