Editing Firmware (section)

== History and etymology ==
Ascher Opler used the term ''[[:wikt:firmware|firmware]]'' in a 1967 ''[[Datamation]]'' article, as an intermediary term between ''hardware'' and ''software''. Opler projected that fourth-generation computer systems would have a [[writable control store]] (a small specialized high-speed memory) into which [[microcode]] firmware would be loaded. Many software functions would be moved to microcode, and [[instruction set]]s could be customized, with different firmware loaded for different instruction sets.<ref name="Opler">
{{cite journal |author=Opler, Ascher |date=January 1967 |title=Fourth-Generation Software |url=https://archive.org/details/TNM_4th_generation_software_hardware_-_Datamation_20171010_0125 |journal=Datamation |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=22–24}}</ref>

As computers began to increase in complexity, it became clear that various programs needed to first be initiated and run to provide a consistent environment necessary for running more complex programs at the user's discretion. This required programming the computer to run those programs automatically. Furthermore, as companies, universities, and marketers wanted to sell computers to laypeople with little technical knowledge, greater automation became necessary to allow a lay-user to easily run programs for practical purposes. This gave rise to a kind of software that a user would not consciously run, and it led to software that a lay user wouldn't even know about.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Lumen |title=Introduction to Computer Applications and Concepts. Module 3: System Software |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/zeliite115/chapter/reading-firmware/}}</ref>

As originally used, firmware contrasted with hardware (the CPU itself) and software (normal instructions executing on a CPU). It was not composed of CPU machine instructions, but of lower-level microcode involved in the implementation of machine instructions. It existed on the boundary between hardware and software; thus the name ''firmware''. Over time, popular usage extended the word ''firmware'' to denote any computer program that is tightly linked to hardware, including [[BIOS]] on PCs, [[boot firmware]] on smartphones, [[computer peripheral]]s, or the control systems on simple [[consumer electronic devices]] such as [[microwave oven]]s and [[remote control]]s.