I'm coming across some very stubborn people on YouTube who don't recognize:
1) that HDD are a form of RAM (random access memory) because on a HDD you can start reading wherever you like without having to go though the entire volume like a cassette tape; while there are latencies associated with the position of the sector, they are equally spread out since the computer is likely to access many sectors during its operation;
2) that RAM can be non-volatile, such as magnetic core storage, which retains data regardless of the presence or absence of power.
And just because HDD doesn't act as main storage (the storage from which the CPU directly accesses data) it doesn't mean it isn't memory.
Is there anybody who sees this matter as I do? I wrote this about 4 times and this is my final version. I was in various hardware engineering jobs in IBM and Lenovo over 30 years and do understand electronic components to finished products at their many levels.
To #1, the issue is that when the vast majority of people refer to "RAM", they are referring to SDRAM, that is Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory, and only some people understand that it is the ICs and not the card as a whole, because the general public sees RAM as the DDR3 (or DDR4) sticks as card assemblies.
Technically, if translating "RAM" to mean all Random Access Memory, it covers a huge variety including the specialized protected EEPROM that holds the computer Bios, and the SRAM built into the CPU now, and the Flash memory of SSDs, and many more. An HDD is similar to a set of DVDRW but read and write in cross-section slices like a lasagna. Yes, a stamped created bluray disk is a Read Only Optical Memory and is random access. So, although you are not wrong, it is splitting hairs. Yes, a tomato is a fruit.
Your #2 is an extension of #1 and gets the same issue. It is not until taking the broadest definition of ram that what you state is correct. But, the vast majority of people do not think in those terms. The only way to be understood is understanding the way acronymns are used and not trying to redefine to a level that no longer communicates.
Yes, an HDD is memory. The RAM people have in mind when using the term is unstable without a voltage feed.
Let's say I understand precisely what you refer to, and at that it loses coherence in communication. We use terminology in certain ways, and changing it to a broader definition doesn't help the situation.
A pen and paper is RAM and a storage device also by your definition, because you can write anywhere on the page and it holds data, but we have conventions about it. I don't. RAM is accessed by the CPU to run operating systems and programs.
HDs are simply storage devices… VOLUME… Like cardboard boxes stored in a warehouse.
RAM does not read HDs. An OS program does. Neither do I.
And I'm sure that the hard drive is the main storage on most computers.
How can RAM be non-volatile? That's why whenever you turn on your computer, it takes a while to load the system
You should really learn what RAM and hard drive are. You are mostly right. And HDD memory can be used to supplement RAM by "virtual memory". But speed factors and hardware form prevent some people to equate the two types in any way. No. Because most people just don't care.
