On the Semantic Disappearance of the Memory–Storage Distinction

This paper examines the semantic consequences of eliminating the operational asymmetries that historically sustained the distinction between memory and storage. Rather than proposing new architectures or abstractions, it reconstructs the descriptive conditions under which this vocabulary originally acquired meaning. The analysis shows that the distinction functioned as a role-based semantic framework grounded in asymmetric access, lifetime, and participation, rather than in intrinsic properties of information. Once uniform accessibility and persistence are admitted, these asymmetries cease to differentiate system behavior. As a result, the memory–storage distinction does not become false but loses its semantic necessity. The work characterizes this transition as a descriptive boundary, clarifying the limits of applicability of hierarchical semantic models without advocating their replacement.