• antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 months ago

    Except that’s like dividing by zero. A millibit is undefined. A bit is the smallest indivisible unit of digital information.

    But capitalization is important to distinguish between b for bit and B for Byte.

    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      8 months ago

      No, that’s like dividing by 1,000.

      Anyway, computer scientists split the bit back in 1969, which is how we’re able to make smaller and smaller computers: the bits are all smaller, so we can pack more into a single potato chip.

    • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      Good catch but not quite. bps is a rate so it is allowed to be an abstract expression.

      How many chickens per hour cross the road?

      And more importantly, why.

    • Kevin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 months ago

      If you had really slow Internet, like smoke signals or semaphores across a nation, you could characterize it as millibit:

      1 bit over 1000 seconds = 1 millibit/s.

      But yeah, it’s basically meaningless in today’s age for Internet speeds.