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[return to "1 kilobyte is precisely 1000 bytes?"]
1. kmm+rb[view] [source] 2026-02-03 17:41:38
>>surpri+(OP)
And a megabyte is depending on the context precisely 1000x1000=1,000,000 or 1024x1024=1,048,576 bytes*, except when you're talking about the classic 3.5 inch floppy disks, where "1.44 MB" stands for 1440x1024 bytes, or about 1.47 true MB or 1.41 MiB.

* Yeah, I read the article. Regardless of the IEC's noble attempt, in all my years of working with people and computers I've never heard anyone actually pronounce MiB (or write it out in full) as "mebibyte".

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2. pif+7k[view] [source] 2026-02-03 18:13:51
>>kmm+rb
> I've never heard

It doesn't matter. "kilo" means 1000. People are free to use it wrong if they wish.

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3. tomber+aG[view] [source] 2026-02-03 19:41:14
>>pif+7k
All words are made up. They weren’t handed down from a deity, they were made up by humans to communicate ideas to other humans.

“Kilo” can mean what we want in different contexts and it’s really no more or less correct as long as both parties understand and are consistent in their usage to each other.

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4. Sturge+wk2[view] [source] 2026-02-04 07:10:03
>>tomber+aG
> “Kilo” can mean what we want in different contexts

Fair enough.

1000 watts is a kilowatt

1000 hertz is a kilohertz

1000 metres is a kilometre

1000 litres is a kilolitre

1000 joules is a kilojoule

1000 volts is a kilovolt

1000 newtons is a kilonewton

1000 pascals is a kilopascal

1024 bytes is a kilobyte, because that's what we're used to and we don't want to change to a new prefix

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5. 171862+g07[view] [source] 2026-02-05 15:09:02
>>Sturge+wk2
Watt, hertz, meter, joule, volt, newton and pascal are all SI units, a byte is not.
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