Apple Write-Only Memory Joke

Apple 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: • bit bucket: The final resting place of all information; see write-only memory. On page 250: • write-only memory: A form of computer memory into which information can be stored but never, ever retrieved, developed under government contract in 1975 by Professor Homberg T. Farnstarfle. Farnstarfle's original prototype, approximately one inch on each side, has so far been used to store more than 100 trillion words of surplus federal information. Farnstarfle's critics have denounced his project as a six-million-dollar boondoggle, but his defenders point out that this excess information would have cost more than 250 billion dollars to store in conventional media.

A fake encyclopedia-style excerpt describes Apple’s supposed write-only memory, where information can be stored but never retrieved. The joke parodies technical documentation and government bureaucracy by presenting an absurd memory device and wildly inflated storage economics as factual history. It is used as a reaction to information that disappears permanently or systems where data can go in but never come back.

• @right_wing_dev_squads / 11431 2025-02-02