There seems to be a lot of confusion about the use of the abbreviations kbps/Kbps/KBps/kBps..., not only on those forums, but also on other sites. This is an attempt to get things straight...

- b or B?

b = bit, B = byte (8 bits). No confusion about that one...

A nibble is half a byte (4 bits).

- k or K?

k = kilo, K = kilo. Confused...

The explanation is easy:

k = 10 to the power of 3 = 1.000
K = 2 to the power of 10 = 1.024

--> kb = kilobit = 1.000 bits = 125 bytes
--> Kb = kilobit = 1.024 bits = 128 bytes
--> kB = kilobyte = 1.000 bytes = 8.000 bits
--> KB = kilobyte = 1.024 bytes = 8.192 bytes

--> A V.90 is a 56k modem, not a 56K modem...

The same goes for mega

m = 10 to the power of 6 = 1.000.000
M = 2 to the power of 20 = 1.048.576

And giga:

g = 10 to the power of 9 = 1.000.000.000
G = 2 to the power of 30 = 1.073.743.824

I hear you coming already: 'So what? The difference isn't THAT big!'
Take a look at this: you buy a '30 gigabyte' HDD (that's what it says on the box). You install the huge mother****er, and in your BIOS it says: 28 GB.... Ha! HDD manufactureres use the g-prefix, but computers use the G-prefix (because computers use the binary system, HDD manufacturers prefer to use the decimal system...).

--> 30 gB (the manufacturer's point of view) : 30 times 1 billion= 30.000.000.000 bytes
--> 30 GB (your computer's point of view): 30 times 2 to the power of 30 = 32.212.314.720 bytes

Meaning: if you need a 30 GB HDD, you'll need to buy a 32 GB HDD. A 30 GB HDD simply isn't big enough

I know some of you won't agree: there's another theory stating that prefixes BELOW zero should not have capitals, and prefixes above zero take a capital. I don't see why that should be, because none of the below-zero prefixes are the same as the above-zero ones....