Re: buying a compter

["AG" <ang@xtra.co.nz>]

"Adrian Knoth" <adi@drcomp.erfurt.thur.de> wrote in message
news:slrnalchuo.9es.adi@drcomp.erfurt.thur.de...
> AG <ang@xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>
> >> 1 GHz = 1000 MHz = 1,000,000 KHz = 1,000,000,000 Hz
> > Ahh, but much too often there is a confusion - if you buy a computer
> > that is quoted as having 1Gb of memory, you aren't likely to receive
> > exactly 1,000,000,000 bytes ;-)
>
> Well, you'll at least get 1,000,000,000*8 bits. The problem was that
> IT handled prefixes as powers of 2. So the kb were 1024*8 bits,
> the MB were 2^20*8 bits and so on.
>
> That is why you've ment 1Gb=2^30*8 bits. AFAIK they changed the
> international convention from KB,MB,GB... to KiB, MiB, GiB so that now
> the old k/M/G are exactly in SI-style (1000/1000000/1000000000) and
> Ki/Mi/Gi stand for the IT-version (powers of 2: 1024/2^20/2^30).

Sorry to answer to this one specific mail out of a rather
large number that I received on the subject (it just
happened to be the last I saw).

Believe me, I do know the difference between 2 and 10
based definitions of of Kilo, Mega, Giga, Tera and so on.
It was just meant to show why the question has arised in
the first place. I wonder why not one of the respondents
noticed the smiley at the end of what I wrote?