[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: How to configure konqueror to show KB and MB instead of KiB and
From:       Michael Pyne <mpyne () kde ! org>
Date:       2009-06-30 22:42:28
Message-ID: 200906301842.28921.mpyne () kde ! org
[Download RAW message or body]

[Attachment #2 (multipart/signed)]


On Tuesday 30 June 2009 09:58:50 Stefan Majewsky wrote:
> Am Dienstag 30 Juni 2009 14:20:58 schrieb Allan Sandfeld Jensen:
> > I doubt it! Most people like to the interface to talk a language they
> > understand. Only technical experts knows what a KiB or a MiB is, most
> > users on the other hand are comfortable with KB and MBs.
>
> But continuing with fuzzy language cannot be an option, either. With KB and
> MB used for both binary and decimal units, users are confused about things
> like 500 GB harddrives magically shrinking to 465,6 GB because the latter
> one is 465,6 GiB. Consistent naming of the units brings more transparency
> in the end, and frankly, I doubt that anyone really notices the "i" if he
> does not know about that.

It's not fuzzy.  Everyone knew what MB, KB, etc. meant with regards to 
computers, otherwise they wouldn't have been the units used for decades.

The fact that some 23-year-old marketing dweeb fresh out of college at a hard 
disk manufacturer thought up the bright idea of misusing the unit by applying 
SI nomenclature and then throwing fine print on the box doesn't negate the 
fact that KB/MB have always been powers of 2^(10*i) for computing.  mibibytes 
and their ilk are just admitting defeat to storage manufacturers marketing 
departments.

Besides, what to do with USB thumb drives and flash memory?  Mine is labeled 
"2 GB", and it's really 2 GB due to the architecture of flash memory.  No 
matter what system you use you're going to be wrong if all you're worried 
about is not confusing poor old Aunt Tillie.

Regards,
 - Michael Pyne

["signature.asc" (application/pgp-signature)]

>> Visit http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel#unsub to unsubscribe <<


[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]