Why Are Computer Storage Units Called 'Memory'?

Why are storage units in computers called "memory"? It might seem natural today, but the anthropomorphism does seem odd after a bit of thought. As many concepts in computing, this is attributable to von Neumann. A short thread on the history of this naming. 1/5 #computinghistory

— Sujith Jay Nair (@suj1th) January 11, 2020

UPenn Electrical Engg. Department had designed & built ENIAC, the first programmable electronic computer, between 1943-1945. This team roped in von Neumann to help design a successor to ENIAC. The first output of this collaboration was "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC". 2/5

— Sujith Jay Nair (@suj1th) January 11, 2020