So why are RAM sizes still based on powers of 2? Why are disk sectors still a power of 2? Drive manufacturers are hypocrites. Thanks Apple, now files will be "different" sizes depending on what OS someone is using. This doesn't make anything easier, it makes it harder! Now people will have to figure out why the 1GB of pictures their friend sent won't fit in the 1GB of free space they had on their memory card. Mega, Giga, etc, when used with Bytes (not bits per second, which is a rate measurement), are 1024-based. Why is that so hard for people to understand? I just explained it in one sentence! mebi/gibi/etc - these prefixes are retarded. 1000-base units should be called metric MB, metric GB, etc. I mean, we already have ton and metric ton, so why not? "Oh, noes, they've subverted the SI Rules!" - shut up, pansy. I'm the go-to guy for computer issues in my family, and no one has EVER asked me about this. If your parents can figure out facebook, they can certainly figure this out, if they even care. So, Apple, fix this, someone slap the drive manufacturers, and then we can all move on to something that actually matters.

non-xkcd comic of what Apple just did: http://www.mnftiu.cc/2002/11/26/filing-004/