Re: PROBLEM: KB->KiB, MB -> MiB, ... (IEC 60027-2)

[Krzysztof Halasa]

Jan Engelhardt <jengelh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> Bleh. Except for storage, base 1024 was used for almost everything
> I remember. 4 MB memory meant 4096 KB, and that's still the case today.
> Most likely the same for transfer rates.

Nope, transfer rates were initially 1000-based: 9.6 kbps = 9600 bps,
28.8 kbps = 28800 bps, 64 kbps = 64000 bps. Then it went 128, 256,
512 kbps = 512000 bps and 1 Mbps = 2 * 512 kbps = 1024000 bps.

But it's limited mostly to serial interfaces. Other networks use
10, 1000 etc. because they have nothing natural in (powers of) 2
so 1 Mbps may be 1000000 bps as well.

> It's just that storage vendors broke the computer rule and went with 1000.

1024 etc. is (should be) natural to disks because the sector size
is 512 B, 2048 B or something like that.
-- 
Krzysztof Halasa
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