[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

As far as how the English language is used, yes there is a difference between memory and storage. In a certain context [computer hardware], they are the same. But as most [nontechnical] people use the term, they are not. If you do a search of "memory vs. storage" there is quite a lot of disagreement that they are the same thing.

They are not always used the same. I did not claim that they were. But they are often used the same. I can use them the same in certain contexts, and be correct. You can use them to mean different things, but unless you add extra keywords to tell them apart, they can be confused that way. Those words are not clear distinguishing features of different kinds of devices. We are both right. But the problem is that certain self-proclaimed "language police" insist that I am wrong, and that my way will confuse people.

The point is, I am saying that "memory" and "storage" CAN be used as synonyms, and people are telling me that they CANNOT be used that way (despite a world full of evidence that supports both my usage and your usage).

Extra descriptive words like I used are needed to avoid confusion. That is how English works. You cannot just leave out the extra words and ASSUME that "memory" and "storage" have unique specific and distinctive meanings when used in a computer hardware context (especially when they are commonly used as synonyms).

Claiming that these words each mean ONLY different things, the way "most" people use them, does not make that the only correct usage, and in fact that way is much more confusing for people who understand the technology with all its history, variations, and overlap, and the evolution of new devices that completely blur these distinctions. Early computers typically used only one kind of "memory storage" device (except when a different "job" needed to be run). Even the CPU registers were stored on drum memory at one time, and core memory was permanent storage (programs rarely reloaded or changed). Future computers are going back to that (RAM and hard drives replaced by large quantities of very fast memory that never forgets, even with the power turned off -- no need for external memory storage devices).