Jay Forrester filed the first practical computer RAM patent 75 years ago this week

On May 11, 1951, MIT electrical engineer Jay Forrester filed a patent application for coincident-current magnetic core memory, a technology that became the dominant form of random-access storage in di... Read original →

Forrester’s 1951 magnetic core memory patent didn’t just solve vacuum-tube instability—it redefined real-time computing architecture during the Cold War. Its coincident-current scheme laid the groundwork for DRAM’s matrix addressing, creating a direct lineage from ferrite rings to silicon-based memory cells. The $13M settlement with IBM and RCA wasn’t merely legal resolution; it was an early blueprint for tech alliances forged under IP duress—a pattern echoing in today’s semiconductor IP wars. In a fragmented global tech order, sole control over foundational memory IP now poses acute supply chain risks. Over the next 12–24 months, as MRAM and in-memory computing gain traction in automotive and defense applications, the core memory ethos—physical addressability plus extreme reliability—is making a strategic comeback. Firms ignoring this historical thread risk ceding leadership in next-gen memory architectures.