I'm not saying computer standards aren't still a mess right now, but 60-70 years ago we didn't even agree on how many bits a byte was so things could be worse
the itanium had a 41 bit instruction size, for reasons
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in reply to @lynndrumm's post:
I read a specification from a customer just last week where all memory sizes where explicitly given in "Ko" (Kilo-octects) and "Mo" (Mega-octects)
Which is admittedly clearer than just writing "B" when dealing with raw flash/RAM/EEPROM chips, where it's still customary to specify sizes in bits rather than bytes for who knows whatever reason
This is, AFAIK, the way the French always write it. “B” and “b” for them both mean “bits”, which can accidentally cause an increase in confusion when a French speaker writes “32 KB” meaning “32 kilobits”, and an English speaker reads “32 kilobytes” because of the capitalization.
to be fair, most non-french people don't know there's a difference, either. That's probably part of the reason why advertising internet connections in Mb/s is more appealing, it sounds faster.
Oh absolutely! B/b is a classic example of that special sort of cheeky-clever that tech people love to employ to the confusion of everyone else. There's a reason the symbol for “miles” is “mi”, not “M”. (“Because M is bigger than m! Ho ho ho, we're so smart!”) I Hate it.