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,[2] a staple of software engineering lexicons,[3] and included in "best hoaxes" collections.
[7] Instead of the more conventional characteristic curves, the 25120 "fully encoded, 9046×N, Random Access, write-only-memory" data sheet included meaningless diagrams of "bit capacity vs.
[8] In 1982, Apple published their official Apple IIe Reference Manual (part number A2L2005),[9] which included two references to write-only memory: On page 233: On page 250: Originally written by Bruce Tognazzini, the write-only memory definition was not without its share of internal controversy.
[13][14] The 25120 WOM joined a family of equally useless, fictitious devices made before and since, including the dark bulb, dark-emitting diode, WAS gate, and Inoperational Amplifier;[15] and earlier, the Umac 606 Infernal Anode Phantasatron and the Electrovoice Rearaxial Softspeaker.
[16] (The Phantastron is a real, if obsolete, circuit for generating precision sawtooth waves.)