How and when did 8 bits win over 6 bits?

Asked Feb 14 '14 at 11:37

Active Jun 18 '14 at 20:27

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Many older computers (such as the UNIVAC 2200 and PDP-15) had words that were multiples of 6 bits (18 and 36 bits being most common).

Octal was used a lot for these systems (an octal digit is three bits, so it fits nicely).

Modern systems have words which are multiples of 8 bits (8, 16, 32 and 64 being common).

Hex is used a lot for these systems (a hex digit is four bits, so it fits nicely).

How, when and why did this happen?

Was the octal->hex change causal or a consequence?

I have already read.

edited Jun 18 '14 at 20:27

Sam

asked Feb 14 '14 at 11:37

fadedbee

I bet it was when computers had to deal with something else than numbers. Did you try to fit an alphabet in 6 bits? – opalenzuela Feb 14 '14 at 11:38
@opalenzuela http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-bit_character_code – fadedbee Feb 14 '14 at 11:42
I didn't say it's not possible. I'm just saying that is rather inefficient and costly. – opalenzuela Feb 14 '14 at 11:43
Yes, if you want simple, distinct capital and lower-case letters, then 7 bits are required. – fadedbee Feb 14 '14 at 11:53

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