The phrase “64-bit” has been tossed around lately, the most it’s been since the Nintendo 64. If you haven’t heard it, pay attention. One of the most important steps forward in computer power is happening right under your nose, but most people don’t know thanks to the sneaky efforts of Microsoft and Apple. Though fully 64-bit operating systems are the OSes of tomorrow, you can taste some of that power today with 64-bit versions of Windows and OS X. Here’s why 64-bit computing is so awesome:
Over at Royal Pingdom there’s a fascinating little picture history of computer storage from the year dot nearly up to the present day. Who knew that hard disks were once the size of a small car? Not me, though I remember being surprised when finding an 8-inch floppy disk in an old science workstation once. And probably few now remember that Fortran’s strange columnar code structure came, in part, from punch card use. Check out the images in the gallery: some of them will amuse you, some may amaze.
We’re really not sure why people spend time developing these kinds of stats, but we’re happy to exploit them when they do.
EMC and IDC have put out a joint study revealing that there are more bits of data in the digital universe than there are stars in the actual universe. And according to the study, the number of bits is growing at a rate of about 60% per year.
