kilobyte
A
kilobyte (
KB or
K--capital letters; lower-case "k" and "kb" are kilo
BITS) is an unofficial term for 1024
bytes, or 8192 bits. It is a common file size measurement
unit, but not part of SI like these other units, because "kilo" normally refers to the number 1000, not 2^10 (1024). "Kibibyte" (
KiB), the "official" term for 1024 bytes, has been slow to catch on.
There is nothing "official" about KiB. It was coined to help alleviate the confusion brought on by computer industry marketing. In the beginning there was KB, which was 1024 bytes, then marketing got hold of things and figured that if they redefined "KB" to "1000 bytes" they would have an edge over their competitors ("your 160GB HD is really 149GB"; can you say false advertising?). - BW
Just FYI, the ugly-but-precise "i" notations are part of a relatively recent IEC standard; see this for some detail. Compare this. So "official" isn't too much of a stretch. --AlexanderDaguerre
grumbles after reading links provided. "I suppose" - BW
units |
byte |
bit