this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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[โ€“] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

An imperial unit (let's remember we got this from the Brits who now say they're metric... but are they?) is generally based on something in day-to-day life so they're relevant. They would have probably been named in the late 40's or early 50's. So I suspect the they'd be based on ways data was transmitted then.

  • 4 taps (like on a telegraph) = 1 character
    • so 1 tap is 2 bits
  • 1 sheet (like paper) = 13,000 characters
    • so 1 sheet = 52,000 taps = 104,000 bits
  • ... etc
  • 1 bankbox = 500 sheets = 26 million taps = 52 million bits

edit: fixed my maths

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Aren't morse characters are 1 to 3 taps long?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

It's 1 to 4 for the English alphabet, though only E is a 1 tap. I started with 3 taps = 1 character but then all the whole number in my examples go away.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Letters are 1-4, numbers are 5 taps

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Ah, my mistake