Who (really) created the "Byte"?

Date:
Mon, 24 Oct 2022 18:28:04 GMT

Description:
And what is the REAL definition of term?

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Kilobytes (KB). Megabytes (MB). Gigabytes (GB).

We use these storage measurements every single, gosh-darned day. And most of us feel like we know exactly what they mean. But do we really?

Do we really truly know what a Byte is and its origin? I mean who came up with the term Byte, anyway?

Lets take a moment to look over the history of the term. If, for no other reason, than to feel smarter than most other nerds. What is a Byte?

If you ask Mr. Google, a Byte is exactly 8 Bits.

Ok. Great. So what is a Bit?

That part is simple.

A Bit is the smallest unit of information for a digital computer. A Bit can have two possible values 0 or 1. It is a boolean. A binary.

Many people believe Bit is short for Bite. You find this in many computer history books. This little tidbit has been repeated so often, many believe it. However, like many such oft-repeated anecdotes in computing its hogwash.

In fact, the full name for a Bit is binary information digit. Squish that phrase together and you get Bit.

Fun factoids about the origin of the Bit :

The first usage of the word bit when talking about this specific type of
data, in reference to computing, was by Vannevar Bush. He published an articled entitled Instrumental Analysis in the October, 1936 issue of
American Mathematical Society. In it he used the phrase bits of information when talking about punch cards.

However bit was commonly used in Middle English to refer to a mouthful or a morsel of food. (This is the origin of why many believe Bit is short for
Bite even though it isnt.) As such, Vannevar Bush may not have actually been thinking about a Bit as a Binary digit instead he may simply have thought
this is a morsel of data. Also worth noting Bush never actually defines what a bit is. Making it clear he was simply using the word bit in the Middle English way.

The first distinctly verifiable usage of Bit in this way is by John Tukey. From A Mathematical Theory of Communication written by C. E. Shannon:

The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be
called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey . A device with two stable positions, such as a relay or a flip-flop circuit, can store one bit of information.

There you have it. More information about the origin of the term bit than
you ever wanted to know. Youre welcome.

Ok. Great. So a Bit is a 0 or 1. And a Byte is a group of 8 Bits. Easy. Not so fast there, sport!

While the Byte being 8 Bits is commonly accepted today that was not always
the case. Not by a long shot!

In fact, there are two competing stories for who created the term Byte and neither of them were referring to a set of 8 Bits!

Seriously! Werner Buchholzs 6 Bits

The most often cited creator of the term Byte is Werner Buchholz who used
the term, in 1956, to refer to a grouping of 6 Bits when working on the IBM Stretch Super computer. Man sitting at IBM Stretch console. Image source: computer-history.info.

A 6 Bit Byte was common in those days. In fact, Braille was a 6 Bit encoding of characters for the blind. And many of the early computers (from IBM and others) used 6 Bit groupings to encode character data.

However (you knew there had to be a however) Louis G. Dooleys N Bits

Around that same time (1956 or so), Louis Dooley first used the word Byte to refer to an undefined grouping of Bits. But, typically, used as 4 Bits.

Dooley published the following letter in BYTE magazine :

I would like to get the following on record: The word byte was coined around 1956 to 1957 at MIT Lincoln Laboratories within a project called SAGE (the North American Air Defense System), which was jointly developed by Rand, Lincoln Labs, and IBM. In that era, computer memory structure was already defined in terms of word size. A word consisted of x number of bits; a bit represented a binary notational position in a word. Operations typically operated on all the bits in the full word.

We coined the word byte to refer to a logical set of bits less than a full word size . At that time, it was not defined specifically as x bits but typically referred to as a set of 4 bits, as that was the size of most of our coded data items. Shortly afterward, I went on to other responsibilities that removed me from SAGE. After having spent many years in Asia, I returned to
the U.S. and was bemused to find out that the word byte was being used in the new microcomputer technology to refer to the basic addressable memory unit.

Louis G. Dooley
Ocala, FL So what the heck is a Byte?!

Thats right. We now have two very, very different definitions for the word Byte. Both creations of the word happened independently and at almost the exact same moment in time.

The Buchholz Byte - A grouping of 6 Bits.

The Dooley Byte - A grouping of an undefined number of bits, less than a full word size. Often used to describe 4 Bits.

Youll note that neither of these definitions from the men who created the term have the number 8 in them.

The shift towards 8 Bits per Byte started to happen in the 1970s with the development and gaining popularity of 8-Bit processors, such as the legendary Intel 8008. A revision of the Intel 8008 CPU

Interestingly, some of those early 8-Bit CPUs had specific functions for handling 4-Bit chunks of data. Because, up until that point, 4 and 6-Bit Bytes were incredibly common (including in the predecessor to the Intel 8008 the 4-Bit Intel 4004).

Fun Factoid: Nowadays a 4-Bit group is called a Nibble. Which is adorable.

For quite some time the term octet or octad was used to denote 8 Bit groups. At some point along the way, most people phased that out as well simply referring to all groups of bits as a Byte. Though you will still find octet used here and there, especially when talking about various network protocols.

All of which means Dooley invented the modern Byte not Buchholz

While many writers, enthusiasts, and computer historians are quick to say
that Werner Buchholz coined the term Byte they are obviously mistaken.

Besides the fact that its hard to discern who (Dooley or Buchholz) used the term first the Buchholz definition is no longer used at all in modern computing.

The Buchholz definition is specific. 6 Bits. Which modern computing has determined is not the amount of Bits in a modern Byte.

The Dooley definition, on the other hand, allows for wiggle room. Which
means that an 8 Bit Byte would fit the Dooley definition. But not the Buchholz.

The facts are clear: Louis G. Dooley created the word Byte. At least as it
has been used for the last 40+ years.

But Buchholz an absolute legend in the computing world gets one heck of an Honorable Mention trophy. Help people know the true history of computers. Share this with the world. Share The Lunduke Journal of Technology is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and get some sweet exclusives consider becoming a free or paid subscriber .





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Link to news story:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/who-really-created-the-byte


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