Whenever we discuss quantities of data, we tend to do it in the abstract. We speak of a kilobyte, or a megabyte or a gigabyte without really knowing what it represents.
The following table shows various quantities of bytes, in each power of ten. Usually, they are shown with multiples of 2 and 5 also. For example, 1 Kilobyte, 2 Kilobytes, 5 Kilobytes. All the examples are approximate and are rounded.
Bytes (8 bits)
0.1 bytes: A single yes/no decision (actually 0.125 bytes, but I rounded)
1 byte: One character
10 bytes: One word (a word of language, not a computer word)
100 bytes: Telegram; two punched computer (Hollerith) cards
Kilobytes
1,024 bytes; 210; approx. 1,000 or 103.
1 Kilobyte: Joke; (very) short story
2 Kilobytes: Typewritten page
10 Kilobytes: Page out of an encyclopedia
50 Kilobytes: Image of a document page, compressed
100 Kilobytes: Photograph, low-resolution
200 Kilobytes: Two boxes (4000) punched computer (Hollerith) cards
Je viens de tomber sur cette excellente vidéo de la British Heart Foundation dans laquelle on retrouve Vinnie Jones (dans son rôle de truand habituel) qui nous montre comment effectuer le CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation ou réanimation cardio-pulmonaire) rien qu’avec les compressions thoraciques, le tout sur fond de Stayin’ Alive (!!) des Bee Gees :
Et l’introduction me plaît beaucoup, je me vois bien l’utiliser dans certaines classes :
My name is Vinnie Jones and I »m gonna teach a lesson you’ll never forget. There’re times in life when being tough comes in handy.