Data Points: Big Bang of Bits
The expansion of the digital universe is accelerating, according to a study by IDC, an information and technology analysis firm, and EMC Corporation, a data management company. Powering this growth is the conversion of analog images, television broadcasts and voice calls to digital formats, as well as the storing and sharing of such files.
Number of bits in a byte: 8
Number of gigabytes in an exabyte: 1 billion
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Exabytes of data created, captured and copied in 2006: 161
Equivalent data in stacks of books stretching from the earth to the sun: 12
Exabytes expected to be made in:
2007: 255
2010: 988
Available storage capacity today, in exabytes: 246
Number of bits stored on one square inch of a disk drive in:
1956: 2,000
2007: 100 billion
SOURCE: The Expanding Digital Universe, IDC White Paper, March 2007
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