TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Byte abbreviations From:Matt Ion <soundy -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 9 Jun 1997 17:53:45 -0800
On Mon, 9 Jun 1997 12:31:17 -0500, geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA wrote:
> Rikki Mitman wondered <<I'm looking for consensus on the
> abbreviation of things like megabyte and gigabyte, which
> are typically represented as mb and gb (or, to my
> dismay, MB, Mb GB, and Gb). To me, these are abbreviations,
> *not* acronyms, and should not be capped.>>
>
[snip]
> So cap-M, cap-G, and lower-case k are correct and standard.
Hmm... mb = millibit? :-)
> Strictly speaking, your examples are the type of abbreviation known
> as an initialism (i.e., an unpronouncable acronym), but
> that's a red herring here. In any event, abbreviations are
> often capped (e.g., MS-DOS, in which MS = Microsoft),
> though the practice varies from industry to industry and
> (sometimes) publication to publication.
Some tend to make unpronounceable acronyms a tad more pronounceable:
MS-DOS = "Messy-DOS", or one of my favorites, MPTS (Warp
Connect/Server's Multi-Protocol Transport Services) = "Muppets".
> As for bits and bytes, there's an unofficial standard in
> the computer press that the big (cap) B stands for byte (8
> bits), whereas the small (lower-case) b stands for bit
> (just one). This is not to my knowledge an international
> standard, nor is it used consistently in all cases, but
> it's a sensible solution that is worth using IMHO.
It might be considered an ad-hoc standard; the difference is generally
understood and adhered to within the industry, and is generally only
strayed from by the computer-illiterate and perpetualted by the
comp-ill ;) press.
I suppose for safety's sake, it's something that should be included in
every computer-product manual's glossary (and let's not get into the
argument that if you don't know the difference, you don't belong in the
biz :-)
Your friend and mine,
Matt
<insert standard disclaimer here>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the edge of sleep, I awoke to a sun so bright
Rested and fearless, cheered by your nearness
I knew which direction was right
The case had been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light...
- Rush, "Double Agent"
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
