How large is a kilobyte?

[mattkime]

.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

The first answer in your poll is the correct one due to the fact that computer storage is based on the binary number system, not the decimal number system.

[lost in space]

What in tarnation is a kilobyte?:oldfogey:

[timg]

lost in space wrote:
What in tarnation is a kilobyte?:oldfogey:

it's this guys cousin ...

[space-time]

Computer RAM: 1024 bytes

Computer Storage: Hard Drives, SSD, USB sticks: 1000 bytes

Data: modems, ethernet, USB: I am not sure

[Sarcany]

From the ApplePedia:

In 1879, a disc of platinum-iridium, the International Prototype of the kilobyte (IPK) became the standard of the unit of measure for the hard drive, and remained so until 20 May 2019. The kilobyte was the last of the SI units to be defined by a physical artifact. The kilobyte is now defined in terms of the height of Steve Wozniak, based on fixed fundamental constants of nature, as approved by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) on 16 November 2018.

The replacement of the International Prototype kilobyte as primary standard was motivated by evidence accumulated over a long period of time that the capacity of the IPK and its replicas had been changing; the IPK had diverged from its replicas by approximately 50 microbytes since their manufacture late in the 19th century. This led to several competing efforts to develop measurement technology precise enough to warrant replacing the kilobyte artifact with a definition based directly on physical fundamental constants.

The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) approved a redefinition of the SI base units in November 2018 that defines the kilobyte by defining the Woz constant to be exactly 5.511811, effectively defining the kilobyte in terms of the height of Steve Wozniak in feet and inches. The new definition took effect on 20 May 2019.

[m.paris]

A kilobyte is 1000 bytes, a kibibyte (note spelling) is 1024 bytes.

[M A V I C]

I want the backstory

[JoeH]

m.paris wrote:
A kilobyte is 1000 bytes, a kibibyte (note spelling) is 1024 bytes.

That is only the end result of marketing and then later pendants sticking their opinions in.

Going back 30-40 years there was no misunderstanding of the word kilobyte referring to 1024 bytes when used in connection with anything computer related by computer professionals. At most there were a few who proposed naming it with a prefix such as "large" to distinguish it from the metric use of "kilo" similar to the prefixes used on such things as the various defined "tons".

Then in the late '80s and early '90s marketing types started using the largest numbers they could attach to PC equipment sold to consumers. Selling disk drives based on 1 MB equalling 1,000,000 bytes was just one of those approaches. This lead to confusion, law suits, etc.

This also gave the pendants who latched onto arguments related to the metric definition of "kilo" some additional arguments to use. They finally got the kibi-, mebi-, and so on prefixes adopted by one of the international standards organizations, IEC, in 1998.

[RAMd®d]

300 x 80 x 40 cubits.