I think you mean to reference CSC, p61 as it is not worded like that in CRB. That would make more sense if I'd had the opportunity to read it like that the first time round in CRB. Except the CRB doesn't mention that a Data Wafer is required. The CSC does but obviously I'd not picked up on it because the way the earlier CRB entry is worded. Buy CRB and you can use a Wafer Jack without needing a Data Wafer then buy CSC and suddenly you do need one in order to use the same WJ. ---> More like a backward step, but I am beginning to see how misunderstandings have arisen.
I am not really understanding your concern with significance of the exact meaning of wafer. Regardless of which version you reference the sentence about swapping software requiring physical media is present. My default assumption about media is that it is a wafer as:
"The standard medium of information storage in many universes is the data wafer" CRB p112, CSC p68.
You always needed the media and as media = wafer you always needed wafers.
The mechanics of the Wafer Jack media transfer are not fully described and it could as easily be a standard wafer that is inserted into a transfer device that is plugged into the Wafer Jack by cable (or the transfer could be wireless). The picture is of the classic cyberpunk idea of a chip Jack but art does not always match the game actuality.
Plus, "Bandwidth" is used eccentrically inconsistent according to the CRB definition of "Bandwidth" - bandwidth represents Processing Power and NOT storage capacity. So the catalogue entry is all misinformed.
I think it is consistent enough as with all other computers, the amount of Bandwidth you can USE concurrently is a function of your Computers level. CRB is no clearer as it uses the term "Bandwidth Capacity" as the definition of how much software can be loaded on the Wafer Jack.
Software has Bandwidth and Bandwidth Capacity is logically the capacity for bandwidth. Complex programs require greater processing power, but also logically require greater storage capacity. We don't care about capacity for conventional computers in Traveller as "beyond TL8, the capacity of even a modest computer is effectively unlimited". The Wafer Jack is unique in that it has a limit to the software it can store in addition to the Bandwidth of software it can run.
Fortunately you can run as many DM+1 versions of the Expert package as you have processing power. If the Wafer Jack ran the Intellect Interface it would further limit the number of Expert packages which could be run simultaneously.
CSC does not change any of that, it simply omits the word capacity from the table (the wording is still in the description).
Well yes. Like I said earlier, Wafer just means a slice of semiconductor material. Doesn't imply any interface. "Jack" is odd word in it can mean "a hole for an electrical conductor attachment" and "jack plugs" and "jack connectors" are common in audio equipment, esp with headphones. Seeing it used this way is odd, unless that usage is more common in USA - I don't really know.
The only thing that is supposed to constant in the various Traveller wafers is the interface.
"The interface for a data wafer is standardised but the internal workings vary." CRB P112
Jack is likely derived from it's use the Cyberpunk Genre (e.g. Jacking in). It probably derives from jack as a contraction of hijack as the device overrides the normal brain function. The conflation with the idea of an audio jack (which itself bypasses the internal wiring of the device) is elegant. Many cyberpunk terms are used differently to modern usage as the assumption is that language will continue to evolve (and thus is surely as valid for Traveller which also encompasses diverse sophontology). William Gibson invented new terms and usages to make the setting seem like it was estranged but still from a familiar background. He admitted for example that he had no idea what a Modem actually was but used the word as it sounded cool and futuristic. In the 80's it did, now it sounds archaic.
