Short answers, pulled from the story.
Reading, as a computer operation, is the act of acquiring data from a source and placing it into volatile memory for processing. Computers can read from sources including magnetic storage, the Internet, and audio and video input ports. Reading is one of the core functions of a Turing machine.
A read cycle is the act of reading one unit of information, such as a single byte. A read error occurs when the physical part of the reading process fails, commonly due to dust or dirt entering a drive.
CMOS memory is read through combinations of p-type and n-type MOSFETs arranged in pull-up and pull-down networks. Asserting or de-asserting inputs makes individual transistors conductive or resistive, directing current to a voltage rail and producing a readable output.
Flash memory stores data in arrays of floating-gate transistors. In NOR-gate flash, electrons are trapped on an electrically isolated floating gate and will not discharge for many years under normal conditions; current flowing through the MOSFET channel generates binary code that reproduces the stored data. NAND flash, which uses tunnel injection for writing, forms the core of USB flash drives and most memory card formats.
The Antikythera mechanism, dated to approximately 100-150 BCE, is the earliest known method of memory storage and computerized reading. It uses more than thirty gears to spin a dial indicator.
The first RAM modules to reach the market appeared in 1951 and were sold until the late 1960s and early 1970s.