The problem in computer jargon is that a Meg does not equal 1,000,000 and a gig does not equal 1 billion. Computers are based upon base 2 instead of base ten and their prefixes reflect that. A kilobyte of RAM is actually 1,024 (2 to the 10th power) bytes. A megabyte of RAM or hard drive space is actually 1,024 kilobytes. A gigabyte of RAM or hard drvie space is actually 1,024 megabytes. People often forget this and assume that 100 gigabytes is 100,000,000,000 bytes but it is really 100,073,741,824 bytes (100 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes). Thus the prefixes in computer jargon do not have the same meaning in metric usage.
Quoting Nat Hager III <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Interesting article on nanotechnology in this morning's Washington Post. > As a side benefit, it clearly puts the prefix "nano" in the national > lexicon > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59607-2004Feb21?language=print > er > > like the computer industry has done for "meg" and "gig". > > Nat > > Gavin Young http://www.xprt.net/~hightech , http://www.renewableelectricity.com, http://www.electric-automobile.com
