• Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Base 2 gives the unit of bits

      Which is exactly what bit means.

      base 10 gives units of “dits”

      Which is not bits, but the equivalent 1 digit at base 10.

      I have no idea how you think this changes anything about what a bit is?

      • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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        2 days ago

        The external storage data and shannon are both called bits, exactly because they’re both base 2. That does not mean they’re the same. As the article explains it, a shannon is like a question from 20 questions.

        • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Wrong. They are called the same because they are fundamentally the same. That’s how you measure information.

          In some contexts, one wants to make a difference between the theoretical information content and what is actually stored on a technical device. But that’s a fairly subtle thing.

          • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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            2 days ago

            I don’t see how that can be a subtle difference. How is a bit of external storage data only subtly different from information content that tells the probability of the event occurring is ½?

            • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              It’s a bit like asking what is the difference between the letter “A” and ink on a page in the shape of the letter “A”. Of course, first one would have to explain how they are usually not different at all.

              BTW, I don’t know what you mean by “external storage data”. The expression doesn’t make sense.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Did you actually read it?
        Because it’s not:

        Base 2 gives the unit of bits

        Which is exactly what bit means.

        base 10 gives units of “dits”

        Which is not bits, but the equivalent 1 digit at base 10.