Adrian and M. Naylor say:
> >
> > A tech 11 hand computer (about 1/5 the size of a milk container) has
> > a 20 meg hard disk and 2 meg memory .
>
> A TL 8 hand computer can have 2 meg RAM. Talk to someone with a Psion
> Series 3 or a Hewlett-Packard 95.
>
> A TL 9, or maybe even late TL 8 hand computer will have 20 meg of something.
> It won't be a hard disc as we know it, because gyroscopic effects would
> make using a hard disc in a hand computer a bad idea. (An ACR with a 20 MB
> hard disc supplying both gyro-stabilisation and data on the enemy's forces
> might be an idea, though. :-) But I would not be surprised to see some
> sort of chip become available, such as the next generation of Flash EPROM,
> which allows that sort of storage in a hand computer.
>
> And a TL 11 hand computer? That would probably have at least 100 MB in
> some sort of memory, be it RAM, EPROM or whatever is being used at TL 11.
>
Umm... I am afraid it gets more absurd than that, given modern technology....
Apparently, some researcher in California has come out with a 3D memory storage
unit that holds about 4 Tera (yes, Tera)(!!!!) bytes of ROM. Any part of the
storage can be accessed (by orders of magnitude) faster than modern computers
can handle. The size: about that of a sugar cube.
(Quick Illustrative Analogy: equivalent to -- about 1K file on every
person on the planet, enough for 500 library of congresses, etc. etc. etc.)
The problem: right now, information stored on the device lasts about 8
hours at room temperature, and only a couple of months at liq. helium
temperatures. (Note: any inorganic chemist who wants to become REALLY rich
might think about working on a more durable analog than what is out there today.
I forget the details (who, when,where,etc )-- but I remember seeing it i
in the New York Times. I will post with further info.
Ed Peschko
[email removed]