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From: kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.std.internat
Subject: Re: What is a byte
Message-ID: <2034@xanth.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 9-Aug-87 14:31:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: xanth.2034
Posted: Sun Aug  9 14:31:53 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Aug-87 23:01:20 EDT
References: <218@astra.necisa.oz> <142700010@tiger.UUCP>
Reply-To: kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan)
Organization: Old Dominion University, Norfolk Va.
Lines: 11
Keywords: 32 bit bytes!  You ain't seen nothin', yet.
Summary: Wait'll you hit ideographs!
Xref: mnetor comp.lang.c:3561 comp.std.internat:84


While we're developing nightmares about the number of bits the Japanese
need in a char, remember for text processing that for 1 billion of the
earth's residents, the smallest unit of text processing is the ideograph,
and that even 21 bits is probably barely sufficient to represent the number
of written words in Chinese.  Anyone for 32 bit characters?  I sure don't
want 24 bit ones!  ;-)

(Of course, one _could_ always write off the market, but a billion customers
is rather a lot at which to turn up ones nose!)

Kent, the man from xanth.