Each data bit was stored as the magnetic polarity of a minute bead of ferrite strung by hand at the intersection of three wires. A core plane was composed of hundreds of fine copper wires in a mesh finer than window screen. Core planes were often arranged in stacks . I acquired a collection of these from Titan Industries, which was in its final hour, having been sold to Ampex to monopolize the production of ferrite core memory . Core makes an interesting case study of a technology that appeared, and virtually disappeared, during a lifetime.
Several robots lurk in the corners as sentinels monitoring the collections.
It's a working Connection Machine 2 with a spare and a Datavault , two of about fifty built by Thinking Machines Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Eventually, I hope to have it running parallel simulations. It was otherwise featureless, giving the impression of awesome computing power. It needed no emblem. Everyone who needed to know knew what it was.