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by drivers99 2034 days ago
In a computer engineering class (but nowhere else really), I heard storage can be called "secondary memory"[1] so they're technically correct, without knowing it.

[1] as mentioned here for instance https://techterms.com/definition/secondary_memory

1 comments

I've not seen it that way, but I've seen memory called "primary storage." Historically storage and memory have been used fairly interchangeably, but when talking about a modern PC, "storage" usually implies disk (or disc, or nvme) and "memory" implies specifically the DRAM.
In french it can also all be called memory. Mémoire vive (lively/quick memory) is for RAM/DRAM etc. Mémoire morte (dead memory) for ROM/eeprom... and Mémoire de masse (mass memory) for storage/disc/tape.
Mémoire morte may be my favorite term ever for ROM/PROM. Would a CD-ROM be Mémoire morte or Mémoire de masse?
Mémoire morte is for PROM onboard chips in practice where you find bios, firmwares these kind of things. Mémoire de masse would include optical discs, storage in general. I'd say CDs are generally thought of as storage and are interchangeable and you need a CD drive/player to read them, not directly.