Bytes and the information they hold...crazy
 

Many of the following facts were taken from Roy Williams "Data Powers of Ten" page at Caltech.


Byte [ 8 bits]
0.1 bytes: a binary decision;
1 byte: a single character;
10 bytes: a single word;
100 bytes: a telegram ORr a punched card;
Kilobyte [ 1,000 bytes OR 103 bytes]
1 Kilobyte: A very short story;
2 Kilobytes: A tTypewritten page;
10 Kilobytes: An encyclopaedic page OR a deck of punched cards;
10 Kilobytes: static web page;
50 Kilobytes: A compressed document image page;
100 Kilobytes: A low-resolution photograph;
200 Kilobytes: A box of punched cards;
500 Kilobytes: A very heavy box of punched cards;
Megabyte [ 1,000,000 bytes OR 106 bytes]
1 Megabyte: A small novel OR a 3.5 inch floppy disk;
2 Megabytes: A high resolution photograph;
5 Megabytes: The complete works of Shakespeare OR 30 seconds of TV-quality video;
10 Megabytes: A minute of high-fidelity sound OR a digital chest X-ray;
20 Megabytes: A box of floppy disks;
50 Megabytes: A digital mammogram;
100 Megabytes: 1 meter of shelved books OR a two-volume encyclopaedic book;
200 Megabytes: A reel of 9-track tape OR an IBM 3480 cartridge tape;
500 Megabytes: A CD-ROM OR the hard disk of a PC;
Gigabyte [ 1,000,000,000 bytes OR 109 bytes]
1 Gigabyte: a pickup truck filled with paper OR a symphony in high-fidelity sound OR a movie at TV quality;
2 Gigabytes: 20 meters of shelved books OR a stack of 9-track tapes;
5 Gigabytes: 8mm Exabyte tape;
20 Gigabytes: A good collection of the works of Beethoven OR 5 Exabyte tapes OR a VHS tape used for digital data;
50 Gigabytes: A floor of books OR hundreds of 9-track tapes;
100 Gigabytes: A floor of academic journals OR a large ID-1 digital tape;
200 Gigabytes: 50 Exabyte tapes;
500 Gigabytes: The biggest FTP site.
Terabyte [ 1,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1012 bytes]
1 Terabyte: An automated tape robot OR all the X-ray films in a large technological hospital OR 50000 trees made into paper and printed OR daily rate of EOS data (1998);
2 Terabytes: An academic research library OR a cabinet full of Exabyte tapes;
10 Terabytes: The printed collection of the US Library of Congress;
50 Terabytes: The contents of a large Mass Storage System;
400 Terabytes: National Climactic Data Center (NOAA) database;
Petabyte [ 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1015 bytes]
1 Petabyte: 3 years of EOS data (2001);
2 Petabytes: All US academic research libraries;
8 Petabytes: All information available on the Web;
20 Petabytes: Production of hard-disk drives in 1995;
200 Petabytes: All printed material OR production of digital magnetic tape in 1995;
Exabyte [ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1018 bytes]
2 Exabytes: Total volume of information generated worldwide annually.
5 Exabytes: All words ever spoken by human beings.
Zettabyte [ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1021 bytes]
Yottabyte [ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1024 bytes]

You have to remember that this is from 1998 so the information is a little outdated on some things (like the computer HD space).

reminds me how impressive the games were that were based on spectrums and commodore 64s that had so little memory :)

I know...doesn't it though?

all the words ever spoken by human beings? holy sh*t! I can't wait till like... 20-30 years when each computer has that much hard drive lol ;p

haha, I was thinking the same thing...I wonder how much a Yottabyte can hold....the earth and everything on it?

i'd say the genetic info of everyone that was ever alive. and every creature too

1 septillion.. Wow. That's enough to hold 1 and half Mcdonald's Ultra Sized Big Macs... :D

hahahaha, probably...

This is the size of several types of c++ variables:

Identifier Memory Size
in Bytes
----------------------------------
char 1
unsigned char 1
signed char 1
int 4
short int 2
unsigned int 4
unsigned short int 2
long int 4
unsigned long int 4
float 4
double 8
long double 8