the.com/random access memory

means The chip-based memory a computer uses to hold data and running programs for quick access, which clears out when the power shuts off.

from 'Random access' is a mid-20th-century computing term distinguishing this memory from older storage like tape, where you had to read through data in order to find anything. With RAM, the computer can jump straight to any memory location in roughly the same time, regardless of where it sits physically — accessing it 'at random' rather than sequentially. The phrase was standard terminology by the 1950s-60s as electronic computers matured, paired with its opposite, sequential access.