Firmware

I occasionally read old “tech for laypeople” books for fun. They’re of course, outdated in terms of the technology they’re speaking of, but they’re often prescient on its philosophical and social repercussions, and sometimes even correct in a way we’ve lost sight of.

The one I’m currently reading is Michael Crichton’s Electronic Life from 1983. There’ll be more from this book in future posts, but here’s a quick tidbit. In his entry on “Software”, he says:

In the old days, machines were “hardware”, and the programs to run on the machines, generally punch cards or tapes, were cutely termed “software”. There was a clear physical difference between hardware and software.

But over the years the distinction has become confused […] Some programs are now sold as chips, which you plug into your machine. The term “firmware” has been introduced to refer to this hard software.

I’d always assumed that “firmware” meant software that came from the company (i.e. firm) that made the machine. (Clearly, I’m a terrible nerd.)

Wikipedia confirms:

Ascher Opler used the term firmware in a 1967 Datamation article, as an intermediary term between hardware and software.

Delightful.