Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: When was the birth of Bitcoin?
by
jbreher
on 08/12/2014, 16:54:25 UTC
1 KB = 1024 bytes

Just no.

'K' denotes 1000, or 10^3.

Always has, always will. Every standards organization on the planet that has any bearing on the matter is unanimous on this point. The fact that 2^10 is very near the value 10^3 is irrelevant. It has been misused for convenience, but has never been correct.

If you want a quick and easy indicator for 1024 or 2^10, you can use 'Ki'.
1 KB = 1024 bytes is obviously the definition used by Blockchain.info. It's also the definition used by memory manufacturers, Windows Explorer, and most non-pedantic people (whether "techies" or not).
If you want to look at the most "official" standards instead of common usage, then this is right: 1000 bytes = 1 kB (kilobyte), and 1024 bytes = 1 KiB (kibibyte).
As long as we're being pedantic, the metric symbol for kilo (1000) is "k", not "K", so you too are wrong.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilobyte, which says the KB is usually used for 1024 bytes.

From your quoted wikipedia kilobyte article:

"In the International System of Quantities, the kilobyte (symbol kB) is 1000 bytes, while the kibibyte (symbol KiB) is 1024 bytes. "

From your memory manufacturers link:

"Quote from JEDEC Standard 100B.01, page 8:
 The definitions of kilo, giga, and mega based on powers of two are included only to reflect common usage. IEEE/ASTM SI 10-1997 states "This practice frequently leads to confusion and is deprecated.""

Misusing 'K' for 'Ki' has killed. It it a stupid pointless anachronism that must stop.