Bytes (8 bits)
1 byte – one character
10 bytes – one word
100 bytes – one sentence
Kilobyte (1000^1 bytes)
1 Kilobyte – one paragraph
2 Kilobytes – typewritten page
10 Kilobytes – a page out of an encyclopedia
100 Kilobytes – a low-resolution photo
Megabyte (1000^2 bytes)
1 Megabyte – 1 thick book (500 pages)
2 Megabytes – a high-resolution photo or one MP3 file
5 Megabytes – complete works of Shakespeare
100 Megabytes – a meter of books on a shelf
700 Megabytes – CD-ROM
Gigabyte (1000^3 bytes)
1 Gigabyte – 500,000 pages or 1000 thick books
2 Gigabytes – 20 meters of books on a shelf
20 Gigabytes – a collection of the works of Beethoven
50 Gigabytes – library floor of books on shelves
Terabyte (1000^4 bytes)
1 Terabyte – one million thick books; 50,000 trees made into paper and printed
2 Terabytes – academic research library
3 Terabytes – 1000 hours of good quality video
10 Terabytes – printed collection of the US Library of Congress
Petabyte (1000^5 bytes)
1 Petabyte – 180 Libraries of Congress; 500 billion pages of standard printed text
2 Petabytes – all US academic research libraries
200 Petabytes – all printed materials in the world
Exabyte (1000^6 bytes)
1 Exabyte – 180 thousand Libraries of Congress
1 Exabyte – 50,000 years’ worth of DVD-quality video
5 Exabytes – All words ever spoken by human beings
Zettabyte (1000^7 bytes)
1 Zetabyte – 180 million Libraries of Congress
1.2 Zetabytes – the amount of all data created worldwide in 2010
Yottabyte (1000^8 bytes)
1 Yottabyte – 180 billion Libraries of Congress
Brontobyte (1000^9 bytes)
Geophbyte (1000^10 bytes)
The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., US, is one of the world’s largest libraries with over 28 million volumes. The numbers listed above are based on the assumption that the average book has 200 pages.
Dobrica Savić
