| Cartridge (electronics) |
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In general the term tends to mean any detachable sub-unit that is held within its own container. The term Cassette has a similar meaning. Video game cartridges may be referred to as (e.g) a cart, '''game pack''', or '''Game Pak'''Game Pak is a Registered Trademark owned and used by Nintendo Of America . MUSIC The 4-track Cartridge and 8-track Cartridge are analogue music storage formats popular from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Here, a cartridge contains audio tape, thus providing different content using the same player. The cartridge containing the tape permits ease of handling of the fragile tape, making it far more convenient and robust than having loose tape. The pickup on modern Turntable s for playing records is called a cartridge. For more information on this, see Magnetic Cartridge . SOFTWARE '' cartridge ( NES ).]] A cartridge may be one method of running different Software programs within a general purpose Computer . This system was popularised by early home computers such as the Commodore 64 , where a special bus port was provided for the insertion of cartridges containing software in ROM . In this case the design was fairly crude, with the entire Address and Data Bus ses exposed by the port; the cartridge was Memory Map ped directly into the system's Address Space . This type of system was pioneered on earlier home TV Game systems, and until recently remained a popular approach with modern Games Console s. The advantage of cartridges over other approaches such as loading software from other media is that the software is instantly available, with no loading time, and it is held in a very robust and hence damage-resistant form. '' cartridge ( N64 ).]] From the early 1980s to mid-1990s, the majority of home Video Game System s were cartridge-based. When CD technology came to be used widely for data storage, most hardware companies moved from cartridges to CD-based game systems, since CD-ROMs were much cheaper to produce and could hold more content. Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, and did not create a CD based system until several years later, instead opting to make their "next generation" system, the Nintendo 64 , cartridge-based. This move was questioned by many industry insiders, who argued that cartridge-based games could never be as long or complex as CD based games, such as those found on competitor systems like the Sony PlayStation . The economic consequences Nintendo suffered as a result of this gamble are often regarded as marking the end of cartridge-based home gaming systems; in fact the next gaming system Nintendo released, the GameCube , features a proprietary mini DVD -based format. Hand-held systems, however, remained cartridge-based until the release of the Nintendo DS (which uses a proprietary type of flash Memory Card slightly larger than an American or Canadian quarter) and PlayStation Portable (which uses Universal Media Disc s). In the late 1970s, due to the similarity in appearance between Atari 2600 cartridges and 8-track Tapes , many consumers called them "Atari tapes" and stores even advertised having "Atari tapes" for sale. WASHING One early form of automatic Washing Machine used cartridges to program different wash cycles. This system, called the ''Keymatic'', used plastic cartridges with key-like slots and ridges around the edges. The cartridge was inserted into a slot on the machine and a mechanical reader operated the machine accordingly. The system did not really take off, since it offered no real advantage over the more conventional program dial, and the cartridges were prone to getting lost. In hindsight it can be seen as a marketing Gimmick rather than offering any really useful functionality. INK Replacement of consumables is an important use for cartridges. They are typically used in ), or toner for Laser Printer s. FOOTNOTES |
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