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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.std.internat
Subject: Re: What is a byte
Message-ID: <8423@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Aug-87 18:23:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: utzoo.8423
Posted: Sun Aug 16 18:23:51 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Aug-87 18:23:51 EDT
References: <218@astra.necisa.oz> <142700010@tiger.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 17
Keywords: 32 bit bytes!  You ain't seen nothin', yet.

> >Remember that the OED includes an awful lot of words that are obsolete or
> >terminally obscure by anyone's standards.  It is not a dictionary of current
> >English.
> 
> That's part of the point. Would you support an encoding scheme that
> prevented me from using English documents, even those containg
> obselete or obscure words, on my computer?...

Depends.  The current encoding scheme (ASCII) already prevents you from
using English documents beyond a certain age -- the English alphabet has
changed!  Just try typing in a document that uses the thorn (vertical
stroke with a loop on the side) or the long 's' (like an integral sign).
The lack of these symbols is a real nuisance to certain scholars, but
somehow it doesn't interfere with most uses of ASCII.
-- 
Support sustained spaceflight: fight |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
the soi-disant "Planetary Society"!  | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry