On Mon, Mar 02, 1998 at 03:07:53AM -0800, Andrew Warren wrote:

> However... The 8-bit definition of "byte" predates microcomputers and
> microprocessors by over a decade; the IBM System/360, designed in the

I'd disagree with that; in the mid-70s "byte" was used to represent a small
number of bits, usually, but not necessarily, big enough to hold a character.
There were machines around with 9 bit and other size bytes.

Even in the early 80's the 8 bit byte was not standardized enough for
it to be used in the ARPANET protocol descriptions, and the alternative
term "octet" was coined to mean an 8 bit quantity, and this term is still
used in TCP/IP protocol descriptions.

There are still machines running that have byte sizes other than 8, and
you still see references to "8-bit bytes" even though by default a byte
is almost universally assumed to be 8 bits.

> '50s, started to standardize a "byte" as eight bits.  Ever since

Hmm, your recollections of the '50s would carry more weight if you'd
actually been alive then, Andy :-)

> eight-bit quantity, and referred to the other sizes -- imprecisely --
> as "words".

Ah, "word", there's a whole new ball game.

Cheers, Clyde

--
Clyde Smith-Stubbs               |            HI-TECH Software
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