"Why is 1 GB equal to 10^9 bytes instead of 2^30?" Answer: it's not. Yes, I know that metric prefixes have official definitions; but inflammable means flammable. Language changes. A kilobyte has meant 2^10 bytes since the very first time anyone ever used the term, and it has continued to mean that in every case except for dishonest drive manufacturers and revisionist prescriptivists. Weight of usage ought to trump.
The idea of using different words to distinguish between real and fake gigabytes is a good one, but it makes the fundamental mistake of getting the "real" one backwards. It should be gigabytes and metric gigabytes, not gibibytes and gigabytes.
Comments
"Why is 1 GB equal to 10^9 bytes instead of 2^30?" Answer: it's not. Yes, I know that metric prefixes have official definitions; but inflammable means flammable. Language changes. A kilobyte has meant 2^10 bytes since the very first time anyone ever used the term, and it has continued to mean that in every case except for dishonest drive manufacturers and revisionist prescriptivists. Weight of usage ought to trump.
The idea of using different words to distinguish between real and fake gigabytes is a good one, but it makes the fundamental mistake of getting the "real" one backwards. It should be gigabytes and metric gigabytes, not gibibytes and gigabytes.