Minecraft wiki entry for Memory, associated text: Devices using latches can be built to give different outputs each time a circuit is activated, even if the same inputs are used, and so circuits using them are referred to as "sequential logic". They allow for the design of counters, long-term clocks, and complex memory systems, which cannot be created with combinatorial logic gates alone. Latches are also used when a device needs to behave differently depending on previous inputs.