The following list is a collection of estimates of
the quantities of data contained by the various media. Each is rounded
to be a power of 10 times 1, 2 or 5.
The numbers quoted are approximate. In fact a kilobyte
is 1024 bytes not 1000 bytes.
Bytes(8 bits)
0.1 bytes:
A binary decision
1 byte:
A single character
10 bytes:
A single word
100 bytes:
A telegram OR
A punched card
Kilobyte (1000 bytes)
1 Kilobyte:
A very short story
2 Kilobytes:
A Typewritten page
10 Kilobytes:
An encyclopaedic page OR
A deck of punched cards
50 Kilobytes:
A compressed document image page
100 Kilobytes:
A low-resolution photograph
200 Kilobytes:
A box of punched cards
500 Kilobytes:
A very heavy box of punched cards
Megabyte (1 000 000 bytes)
1 Megabyte:
A small novel OR
A 3.5 inch floppy disk
2 Megabytes:
A high resolution photograph
5 Megabytes:
The complete works of Shakespeare OR
30 seconds of TV-quality video
10 Megabytes:
A minute of high-fidelity sound OR
A digital chest X-ray
20 Megabytes:
A box of floppy disks
50 Megabytes:
A digital mammogram
100 Megabytes:
1 meter of shelved books OR
A two-volume encyclopaedic book
200 Megabytes:
A reel of 9-track tape OR
An IBM 3480 cartridge tape
500 Megabytes:
A CD-ROM
Gigabyte (1 000 000 000 bytes)
1 Gigabyte:
A pickup truck filled with paper OR
A symphony in high-fidelity sound OR
A movie at TV quality
2 Gigabytes:
20 meters of shelved books OR
A stack of 9-track tapes
5 Gigabytes:
An 8mm Exabyte tape
10 Gigabytes:
20 Gigabytes:
A good collection of the works of Beethoven OR
5 Exabyte tapes OR
A VHS tape used for digital data
50 Gigabytes:
A floor of books OR
Hundreds of 9-track tapes
100 Gigabytes:
A floor of academic journals OR
A large ID-1 digital tape
200 Gigabytes:
50 Exabyte tapes
Terabyte (1 000 000 000 000 bytes)
1 Terabyte:
An automated tape robot OR
All the X-ray films in a large technological hospital OR
50000 trees made into paper and printed OR
Daily rate of EOS data (1998)
2 Terabytes:
An academic research library OR
A cabinet full of Exabyte tapes
10 Terabytes:
The printed collection of the US Library of Congress
50 Terabytes:
The contents of a large Mass Storage System
Petabyte (1 000 000 000 000 000 bytes)
1 Petabyte:
3 years of EOS data (2001)
2 Petabytes:
All US academic research libraries
20 Petabytes:
Production of hard-disk drives in 1995
200 Petabytes:
All printed material OR
Production of digital magnetic tape in 1995
Exabyte (1 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes)
5 Exabytes:
All words ever spoken by human beings.
