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HP has been busily working on memresitor technology for the past several years and intends to release a computer using this technology in the next few years.

Now some researches suggest that memristors might make for great 10-state-based machines. Perhaps HP should work on a new calculator using such memristors technology to demonstrate what they can do before releasing a full-blown computer. Can you imagine how fast a calculator could be whose semiconductor states are decimal!

<rant>

I imagine a high speed calculator with the (by now) usual broken keyboard and firmware ;-(.

But if HP were still able to produce good calculators, such a move would raise interest in them again. Still, the market would be small, as in education, the brand (Casio or TI) appears to be more important than hardware features. And that's for a good reason imo.

</rant>

Thanks for this thread, Katie - I wasn't aware such technology exists, allthough I've studied some of Chuas work in the 80th.

My suspicion is that the memristor technology will be used as a replacement for flash memory first. NAND flash is already multilevel and this latest advance gives memristors the same benefits and they're smaller.

I rather suspect memristors are a while away from general computing.


- Pauli

HP - The Machine scheduled to be released in 2016???

"The main difference between The Machine and conventional computers is that HP’s design will use a single kind of memory for both temporary and long-term data storage. Existing computers store their operating systems, programs, and files on either a hard disk drive or a flash drive. To run a program or load a document, data must be retrieved from the hard drive and loaded into a form of memory, called RAM, that is much faster but can’t store data very densely or keep hold of it when the power is turned off.

HP plans to use a single kind of memory—in the form of memristors—for both long- and short-term data storage in The Machine. Not having to move data back and forth should deliver major power and time savings. Memristor memory also can retain data when powered off, should be faster than RAM, and promises to store more data than comparably sized hard drives today."

Calculating electronically in decimal? I guess its true what they say, Everything new is old again
Sumlock Comptometer/Bell Punch Anita C/VIII Electronic Calculator