Except that
the size of a byte is undefined on a diskette, since
it is not directly linked to a processor architecture.
Byte is 8 bits.
[I
was taught 8 bits is an "octet"] because the size of a byte
varies between machines.
WORD sizes varies but a byte is now considered to be 8
bits.
Depends on whom you ask.
In mainstream computing today, yes, a byte is 8 bits.
But here, in classiccmp-land, we use - and discuss - a lot more
equipment dating from the days when "byte" was much more variable.
Much more so than is done in mainstream computing.
So here, it's not unreasonable to use "octet" to mean an 8-bit datum
and "byte" to mean something less well defined in general, depending on
the architecture(s) under discussion.
Now, in the original context - which was discussing how "1.44M" and
"2.88M" floppies are schizoid about their definition of "M" (it's
a
product of a 1024 K and a 1000 K), is it reasonable to use byte=8bits?
Personally, I'd say it is, since such floppies are 3.5" and thus recent
enough that I doubt you'd find one on anything but an 8-bit-byte
machine. (Of course, I'm sure this crowd could arrange to have one on
a PDP-8 or some such, but the 1.44-megabyte and 2.88-megabyte names
make no sense except for byte=8bits.)
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