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1 KB = 1024 Bytes? No, 1 KB = 1000 Bytes (2008)

1 pointsby voctorabout 8 years ago

2 comments

BillBohanabout 8 years ago
My first program compiled and ran in the summer of 1967.<p>It was not unusual for a computer to have 4K of core memory. We all knew that it was 4096 bytes. The first computer I owned came with 4MB of memory. It was really 4194304 bytes. My current machine has 32GB of memory (34359738368 bytes).<p>It was the marketing people who wanted bigger numbers. Video games touted ROM sizes in bits to make them seem bigger. When hard drives got into many MB manufacturers switched to calling 1000 MB(1048576) a GB to make them seem bigger.<p>&lt;opinion&gt;<p>If you don&#x27;t know about computers, you&#x27;re not likely counting bytes. If you know about computers you should not have a problem with 1K = 1024. I don&#x27;t think they should use 1000 = 1K for computer memory sizes. I&#x27;d hate to have to look for 8.589934592 GB Ram modules for replacement if one of mine fails. Microsoft didn&#x27;t raise computer literacy, they lowered the bar.<p>In the 1960&#x27;s I learned the Metric System in school and was told that soon everything would be metric. My 42&quot; 4K UHD monitor displays 3840 x 2160. What&#x27;s 4K about that?<p>&lt;&#x2F;opinion&gt;
dwringerabout 8 years ago
Strange theories here. I&#x27;m not sure why the expectation of SI units applying to a discrete quantity like bits&#x2F;bytes holds.