Re: Using standardized SI prefixes

[Magnus Holmgren <holmgren@lysator.liu.se>]

Phillip Susi wrote:
> Christof Krüger wrote:
>> Unfortunately, computer designers, technicians etc. are not living in an
>> isolated world (well.. maybe some of them).
>> No one wants to forbid the computer people to use base 2 numbers. They
>> are just asked to write KiB instead of KB if they mean base 2
>> quantities, because the rest of the world already uses kilo as 1000.
>> Changing the rest of the world makes no sense and having distinct names
>> for distinct thing does no harm.
> 
> Different disciplines often ascribe different meanings to the same
> words, so there is no reason why the prefix "Kilo" can not mean 1024 in
> the context of computer science, so please stop complaining about that.
>  You should just learn that in this context, that is what it means.
> Always has and always will.

*Different* disciplines, yes. Here the same words are used for two
meanings in the same discipline.

The SI units and prefixes aren't just words - they have each been
constructed and assigned specific meanings in a _universal_ context.
Your analogy with the mouse fails because "mouse" is a naturally
evolved, everyday word, which has *not* been universally defined (the
well-defined, scientific term would instead be lat. _Mus_ for the genus
or _Mus musculus_ for the species known as the common house mouse).

-- 
Magnus Holmgren
holmgren@lysator.liu.se