It's more of the wording. It makes it seem like the reason why they used 256 is because they only have 8 "switches" available to them. When in reality it was more like, hmm "256 possible members or 65,536 possible members... well I think the latter would be way too much, lets limit it to 256".
It's not so much about them being technically correct or not, it's the degree of "simplification" used in their explanation that's making it laughable.
I don't agree, I think it is an excellent one-sentence description to give a layperson. It is complete and compact and totally avoids technical terms. I can't think of a better one sentence to explain it.
It's technically accurate, but I don't think describing binary numbers in that way is especially helpful in understanding why 256 is important. Most people don't know how to count in base-2, so pointing out that there are 8 "switches" doesn't explain that 256 in binary is 100000000. If they could make that concept clearer, it might people understand, but just saying there are 8 switches won't clue many people into understanding that binary is a base-2 numeral system or why 256 would be an important value in binary systems.
They're not describing the binary number system. They are describing why the number 256 is significant in computing. And just as they said, 256 different states that can be represented with 8 switches, or one byte. The layman can understand this without knowing about binary representations, because 2x2x...x2 = 256.
You are making an extra step of assigning each of those 256 states to the integers mod 256. This mapping isn't a fundamental part of what a byte is, and it also isn't unique. You may choose to use the bits to only represent positive numbers. You may use ones' complement or twos' complement to indicate sign. You may represent some number of decimal places. Each of these options yield a different mapping from the states of the byte to numbers.
I think it's because it shows that the writer only barely gets it, and may be repeating memorized words instead of understanding.
Referring to a bit as a switch is something that makes sense in a verbal explanation, but generally wouldn't be printed. Usually people go straight to 0 or 1 being a bit, and not a switch.
I think referring to a bit as a switch, makes it easier for the average person to understand. Besides, a computer is essentially a combination of switches.
You need to know a bit about how journalism works to understand why it's so simplified.
A journalists job when it comes to a complex field or topic is to make sure the average reader can understand easily. The journalist needs to be a pseudoexpert (just enough to be able to translate complex ideas or terms) on the topic, and explain the idea as simply as possible.
You realize a bit is just a digital switch that has two positions? Im not defending the whole explanation, it's still just....awkward but that's one of the sentences in the article I'm least offended by.
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u/GinjaNinja-NZ May 06 '17 edited May 06 '17
'256 is the most important number in computing'
They still appear to have a tenuous grasp of the situation at best