Rather than using the prefix 'mega,' within this system of prefixes, 1024 2 is referred to as a mebibyte.Ĭurrent use: Megabytes are widely used in data storage for file sizes (documents, photos, videos, etc.) as well as for storage devices such as flash drives or, in the past, floppy disks. In 1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission attempted to address this by defining new prefixes to indicate a base of 1024 rather than 1000. The prefix 'mega' can be ambiguous the SI use of 'mega' would indicate that a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, or 1000 2 bytes, but a base of 1024 (rather than 1000) is also used in information technology as a convenient way to express byte multiples as powers of 2. History/origin: The megabyte is based on the byte, which is derived from the bit, and is a unit that makes use of SI (International System of Units) prefixes. Megabyteĭefinition: A megabyte (symbol: MB) is equal to 10 6 bytes (1000 2 bytes), where a byte is a unit of digital information that consists of eight bits (binary digits). Kilobytes are more commonly used for smaller files like text documents.

The new prefixes would be used when referencing multiples of 1024 bytes (2 10), which is the binary definition of bytes used in information technology.Ĭurrent use: Bytes are widely used when referencing data storage, particularly storage media such as hard drives, flash-based storage, and DVDs, though these are more often presented in terms of larger multiples of bytes such as megabytes or gigabytes. In 1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission defined new prefixes for the byte to be used in addition to their SI (International System of Units) counterparts, with the intent that the SI prefixes would be used when referencing 1000 bytes.

The term byte was coined in 1956 by Werner Buchholz. History/origin: The kilobyte is based on the byte, which is derived from the bit, and is a unit that makes use of SI (International System of Units) prefixes. Definition: A kilobyte (symbol: kB) is equal to 10 3 bytes (1000 bytes), where a byte is a unit of digital information that consists of eight bits (binary digits).

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