1 Feb
2009
1 Feb
'09
11:29 p.m.
On Sun, 1 Feb 2009, Dan Gahlinger wrote:
actually it's not an even million.
a megabyte is 1024*1024 bytes
(1024 K), a mb is a million bytes, but an MB is 1,048,576 bytes
1K = 1024 bytes, not 1000 bytes.
I agree wholeheartedly with Dan about a megabyte (MB) being 2^20 bytes
(1024 * 1024, 1024K, 1048576).
But, we have to be careful about the abbreviations.
Some would insist that "mb" would have to be "milli-bit"!
Those who "have to" have 1000 * 1000 as their unit, would like us to us
"Mebi-Byte" as the name for 1048576.
And of course, we need a name for the Unscrupulous IBM Marketing unit.
("UIMU"?)
I do not accept that there is ANY possible rationale that would justify
1000 * 1024 as being a valid unit of measure. Particularly when the same
UNSCRUPULOUS MARKETING units use 1024 * 1024 for RAM.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com