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There’s so much data that we’re running out of words to describe it

Nowadays, a terabyte (or several) is standard for personal use, and petabytes are what we talk about when we have to make a point about how much data is stored by Facebook and Google. And soon those terms won’t seem so big, either, as we move on to exabytes.

The problem is that after exabytes, we have zettabytes, and then yottabytes, and then — nothing. Zetta and yotta (and their submultiple counterparts, zepto and yocto) are the most extreme numerical prefixes we have. They were made official in 1991 at the 19th General Conference of Weights and Measures. Evidently they didn’t foresee the need to describe anything with a greater multiple than yotta, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Indeed, yotta-anything sounds like it should be enough. The diameter of the observable universe would be approximately just 880 yottameters, points out Jessica Leber at MIT’s Technology Review — meaning if there were a bigger prefix than yotta, the entire universe would fit inside one of them.

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Maybe yotta could be followed by lotta.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:23 PM

Indeed, yotta-anything sounds like it should be enough.

But, would it be big enough for Obama’s collection of speeches – that’s the question.

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 5:23 PM

Maybe yotta could be followed by lotta.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:23 PM

:)

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 5:24 PM

Lotta could be followed by wholelotta, followed by abigeffingbuncha.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:26 PM

abigeffingbuncha.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:26 PM

So then, Good Ol Joe was just ahead of the curve?

Mr. Prodigy on December 12, 2012 at 5:33 PM

Uh. A gigabyte is the new byte; and the terabyte is the new megabyte. So change a gigabyte to a bytte and we’re back to where we were in the 80s.

besser tot als rot on December 12, 2012 at 5:34 PM

Zetta and yotta (and their submultiple counterparts, zepto and yocto) are the most extreme numerical prefixes we have… Evidently they didn’t foresee the need to describe anything with a greater multiple than yotta, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

What were they planning on doing after 8 years of Obama?

HitNRun on December 12, 2012 at 5:36 PM

So then, Good Ol Joe was just ahead of the curve?

Mr. Prodigy on December 12, 2012 at 5:33 PM

Give Obama a little more time to spend money and Joe will be behind the curve.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:38 PM

Get started on the new term then because we’re going to need a descriptor for the amount of shiite flowing from Bark’s mouth the next four years.

Bishop on December 12, 2012 at 5:39 PM

Gosh are these numbers bho dream for our debt? The way he is going, can’t be that far off?
L

letget on December 12, 2012 at 5:41 PM

Get started on the new term then because we’re going to need a descriptor for the amount of shiite flowing from Bark’s mouth the next four years.

Bishop on December 12, 2012 at 5:39 PM

That term was invented a long time ago: infinite.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:42 PM

Gosh are these numbers bho dream for our debt? The way he is going, can’t be that far off?
L

letget on December 12, 2012 at 5:41 PM

Actually, that’s his estimate of how much revenue can be gained by taxing the rich.

backwoods conservative on December 12, 2012 at 5:43 PM

Naming US debt is going to give data a run for its, er, money.

tom daschle concerned on December 12, 2012 at 5:46 PM

How about yadda byte. Then after that, yadda yadda byte. Then yadda yadda yadda byte, and so on.

Dongemaharu on December 12, 2012 at 5:49 PM

yotta-, lotta-, wholelotta-, truckload-, buttload-, sh**load-

There’s a crapload of prefixes.

rdbrewer on December 12, 2012 at 5:52 PM

I thought they had figured this out to the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros.

That word is:

google

and the google guys didn’t misspell it like wiki says.

That is the way it was spelled in the math book I used lots of years ago.

cozmo on December 12, 2012 at 5:52 PM

cozmo on December 12, 2012 at 5:52 PM

I think you will find that it was a googol.

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 6:14 PM

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 6:14 PM

So, you’re part of the conspiracy too. I’ll remember that.

cozmo on December 12, 2012 at 6:24 PM

Two-thirds of it probably just porn anyway.

Meric1837 on December 12, 2012 at 6:26 PM

“Obamadeficitillion”

malclave on December 12, 2012 at 6:59 PM

cozmo on December 12, 2012 at 6:24 PM

Heh!

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 7:03 PM

But, would it be big enough for Obama’s collection of speeches – that’s the question.

OldEnglish on December 12, 2012 at 5:23 PM

Since it’s always the same speech, yes.

mchristian on December 12, 2012 at 7:13 PM

Can’t use Hella… there’s already a petition to make “hella-” the prefix for 10^27.

Mr Michael on December 13, 2012 at 1:40 AM