Is a yobibit really a meaningful unit? [closed]

Posted by Joe on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Joe
Published on 2010-10-17T04:52:36Z Indexed on 2011/11/14 2:04 UTC
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Wikipedia helpfully explains:

The yobibit is a multiple of the bit, a unit of digital information storage, prefixed by the standards-based multiplier yobi (symbol Yi), a binary prefix meaning 2^80. The unit symbol of the yobibit is Yibit or Yib.1[2] 1 yobibit = 2^80 bits = 1208925819614629174706176 bits = 1024 zebibits[3] The zebi and yobi prefixes were originally not part of the system of binary prefixes, but were added by the International Electrotechnical Commission in August 2005.[4]

Now, what in the world actually takes up 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bits? The information content of the known universe? I guess this is forward thinking -- maybe astrophyics or nanotech, or even DNA analysis really will require these orders of magnitude.

How far off do you think all this is? Are these really meaningful units?

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