An imperial unit (let's remember we got this from the Brits who now say they're metric… but are they?) is generally based on something in day-to-day life so they're relevant. They would have probably been named in the late 40's or early 50's. So I suspect the they'd be based on ways data was transmitted then.
4 taps (like on a telegraph) = 1 character
so 1 tap is 2 bits
1 sheet (like paper) = 13,000 characters
so 1 sheet = 52,000 taps = 104,000 bits
… etc
1 bankbox = 500 sheets = 26 million taps = 52 million bits
It's 1 to 4 for the English alphabet, though only E is a 1 tap. I started with 3 taps = 1 character but then all the whole number in my examples go away.
An imperial unit (let's remember we got this from the Brits who now say they're metric… but are they?) is generally based on something in day-to-day life so they're relevant. They would have probably been named in the late 40's or early 50's. So I suspect the they'd be based on ways data was transmitted then.
edit: fixed my maths
Aren't morse characters are 1 to 3 taps long?
It's 1 to 4 for the English alphabet, though only E is a 1 tap. I started with 3 taps = 1 character but then all the whole number in my examples go away.
Letters are 1-4, numbers are 5 taps
Ah, my mistake