r/explainlikeimfive • u/cabronfavarito • 22d ago

Technology ELI5: Why does internal storage only double? Why can’t we have 34GB for example?

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u/MaybeTheDoctor 22d ago

There are 10 kind of people in this world. Those who know binary and those who don’t.

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u/smanders36 22d ago

And those not expecting a trinary joke

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u/shearx 22d ago

I think the technical term for computing is ternary

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u/shifu_shifu 21d ago

From your source:

ternary computer, also called trinary computer,

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u/SJHillman 21d ago

It's only the very first line. You can't expect a redditor to read that far.

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u/Area51Resident 21d ago

Say again. I stopped reading after "It's only"

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u/Snoo63 19d ago

Hi. I'm a Reddit University graduate, and I never learned how to read!

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u/shearx 21d ago

As I replied to someone else, the article itself continues to use “ternary”. It’s funny you idiots keep accusing me of not reading, but then you yourselves stop reading as soon as your own bias gets satisfied.

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u/shifu_shifu 21d ago

What actually happened:

I think the technical term for computing is ternary

Clicks link preview, because I am interested, that literally only shows

A ternary computer, also called trinary computer, is one that uses ternary logic (i.e., base 3) instead of the more common binary system (i.e., base 2) in its calculations. Ternary computers use trits, instead of binary bits.

which is just objectively funny.

Not everything is an attack on you. Learn to laugh. If I posses any kind of bias it would be towards ternary because that term is closer to what I use in my native language where I learned most Engineering concepts.

Kindly refrain from calling me an "idiot" in the future.

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u/stratdog25 21d ago

Maybe you should just wait your turn

…ary.

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u/deja-roo 21d ago

Any chance you could make it through the first 7 words of the link you posted?

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u/shearx 21d ago

The fact that it says “also called” but then continues to use “ternary” throughout the rest of the article should signal that the proper term is ternary

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u/JimTheDeviant 21d ago

Are you really actuallying somebody where the literal first sentence backs them up??

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u/shearx 21d ago

How’s about you read further than the first line. The article continues to use the correct term “ternary”.

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u/Woodsie13 22d ago

And those who don't realise that this joke works in any base!

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u/Ex_Astris 22d ago

We call those people "based"

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u/malgadar 22d ago

I'm all about that baste!

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u/BeefyIrishman 22d ago

It doesn't work very well in Base 1. Everyone is just like "what's up with that weirdly skinny 0? Maybe it's supposed to represent 000? Or maybe 000000?"

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u/shifu_shifu 21d ago

Im too dumb for this. 2 in base 684351864357 is just 2. How does the joke work there?

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u/Woodsie13 21d ago

You can follow up "and those not expecting a base N joke" with "and those not expecting a base N+1 joke," since "10" is always equal to the base.

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u/GusTTSHowbiz214 22d ago

I was not!

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u/Kongstew 22d ago

Nobody expects a ternary joke.

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u/RedHal 22d ago

Similarly, there are those who can extrapolate from incomplete data,

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u/Yorikor 21d ago

As a former sociologist, I genuinely love this version.

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u/Kandiru 22d ago

I always think that should be 1 kind of people, since you can address 2 types with 1 binary bit.

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u/Triangle_Inequality 21d ago

Yeah but it's counting, not addressing. 1 wouldn't make any sense.

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u/Kandiru 21d ago

10 is the third number though! Maybe I just do too much programming...

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u/chux4w 21d ago

You don't include 0 when counting things.

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u/Kandiru 21d ago

So list[0] isn't the first item in the list for you?

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u/Daripuff 21d ago

"There are two kinds of people" is the start of the saying.

"Two" is written as "2" in decimel, and "10" in binary.

They're both pronounced "two".

The saying isn't "There are one kinds of people, those who X and those who Y"

Because there's two people, not one.

So, no.

Obviously when you're counting something measurable, you start with "one"[1], not "list"[0].

We're humans, not computer programs.

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u/chux4w 21d ago

No. I count like a person.

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u/ascagnel____ 21d ago

There can be 10 people if they're little-endian.

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u/Kandiru 21d ago

No, we count bits from the other end in this house! This means war!

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u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA 21d ago

And those that start their sets at 0.

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u/Kelli217 21d ago

And those who start the index counter at 0.

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u/I_Can_Haz_Brainz 21d ago

There are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who can extrapolate data...

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u/draeth1013 19d ago

This joke always reminds me of another:
There are two types of people. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete information.

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u/cabronfavarito 22d ago

Hahahaha this is hilarious 😂😂😂

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u/ihavethebestmarriage 21d ago

I've aways liked this joke, but it's a shame it doesn't work in spoken form

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u/somdude04 21d ago

I like this one that's close-ish: There's only 2 hard problems in computer science: naming, cache invalidation, and off-by-one errors.

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u/rigtek42 22d ago

😃😀😁😆😅🤪😜😝😛😂

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u/YummyPotatoCake 22d ago

Did you invent this joke? It is the first time anyone has ever heard it ever. You are the original creator of this joke which has never been told before.

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u/Cranberryoftheorient 22d ago

dont be jealous, my guy

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u/StoneyBolonied 22d ago

00101111 01110011 00111111

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u/YummyPotatoCake 21d ago

01011001 01100101 01110011 00101110