– why are there 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte? Why didn’t they make it an even 1000?
In: Technology
Why would you make it 1000 when you can make it an even 1024?
Computers work with nothing but switches that can be on or off. A single switch gives you 2 possibilities, 2 switches has 4 possibilities, 3 switches has 8 possible combinations and so on through powers of 2. 1024 is a power of 2, it’s the number of possible values you can represent with 10 switches.
Anything that is a power of 2 is much easier to work with for computers, just like powers of 10 are easier to work with for humans that work with a system based on “10”. Computers are based on “2”, hence is the actual even number that makes sense.
Latest Answers