Editing 394: Kilobyte
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic | + | This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 2^10, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with. |
− | The | + | The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy. |
− | The | + | The second row is Randall's interpretation on how [[wikipedia:Stan Kelly-Bootle|Kelly-Bootle]] would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken. |
− | The | + | The [[wikipedia:Imaginary number|imaginary]] kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1. |
− | The | + | The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which, in 1994, was notorious for having a [[wikipedia:Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw]] in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results. |
− | The | + | The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte. A value of 908 indicates that drivemakers have been decreasing the value for 23 years (if they started with 1000) or 29 years (if they started with 1024), which means a starting year of either 1985 or 1979. Continuing this trend would cause the drivemaker's kilobyte to become zero in the year 2235. |
− | + | The baker's kilobyte is a play on the [[wikipedia:Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen]], which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000, | :There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000, | ||
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each. | :kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each. | ||
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard: | :Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard: | ||
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes] | :[table of various kinds of kilobytes] | ||
− | + | {| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;" | |
|- | |- | ||
|SYMBOL | |SYMBOL | ||
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|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer | |9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer | ||
|} | |} | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Charts]] | [[Category:Charts]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Computers]] |