The World In Bytes

By:  Christopher J. Gorton, MBA  |  © 2005  |  All Rights Reserved  |  CCT Solutions, Inc.                 Printer Friendly Version

This page provides tables and other information about how many bytes are required (how much computer storage) for various information objects or purposes; it also summarizes some facts that have been gathered about how much information exists in the world and, where appropriate, how much computer storage this requires. 
> The Metric System and Computing
> How Many Bytes for Anything
> How Many Bytes for a Web Site
> How Much Information Produced
The Metric System and Computing Abbreviation Equivalent
Byte B 1
Kilobyte KB =1000 B
Megabyte MB =1000 KB
Gigabyte GB =1000 MB
Terabyte TB =1000 GB
Petabyte PB =1000 TB
Exabyte EB =1000 PB
How Many Bytes for Anything  How many bytes In Bytes
A binary decision 1 bit                                        1
A single text character 1 byte                                        1
A typical text word 10 bytes                                      10
A typewritten page 2 kilobytes                                  2,000
A low-resolution photograph 100 kilobytes                              100,000
A short novel 1 megabyte                           1,000,000
The contents of a 3.5 inch floppy disk 1.44 megabytes                           1,440,000
A high-resolution photograph 2 megabytes                           2,000,000
The complete works of Shakespeare 5 megabytes                           5,000,000
A minute of high-fidelity sound 10 megabytes                          10,000,000
One meter (or close to a yard) of shelved books 100 megabytes                        100,000,000
The contents of a CD-ROM 500 megabytes                        500,000,000
A pickup truck filled with books 1 gigabyte                     1,000,000,000
The contents of a DVD 17 gigabytes                   17,000,000,000
A collection of the works of Beethoven 20 gigabytes                   20,000,000,000
A library floor of academic journals 100 gigabytes                  100,000,000,000
50,000 trees made into paper and printed 1 terabyte               1,000,000,000,000
An academic research library 2 terabytes               2,000,000,000,000
The print collections of the U.S. Library of Congress 10 terabytes             10,000,000,000,000
The National Climactic Data Center database 400 terabytes           400,000,000,000,000
Three years' of EOS data (2001) 1 petabyte         1,000,000,000,000,000
All U.S. academic research libraries 2 petabytes         2,000,000,000,000,000
All hard disk capacity developed in 1995 20 petabytes       20,000,000,000,000,000
All printed material in the world 200 petabytes     200,000,000,000,000,000
Total volume of information generated in 1999 2 exabytes  2,000,000,000,000,000,000
All words ever spoken by human beings 5 exabytes  5,000,000,000,000,000,000
How Many Bytes for a Web Site How Many Bytes In Bytes
The amount of text on an average print page (converted into HTML) 1 kilobyte                                  1,000
A button-size image for a Web page 1 KB to 5 KB                                  1,000
A larger image for a Web page 30 to 60 KB+                                30,000
An average Web site 5 megabytes                           5,000,000
The range for typical PDF files 100 to 800 KB                              100,000
A video or audio downloadable file 500 KB to 10 MB                              500,000
An MP3 (music) downloadable file 3 to 5 MB                           3,000,000
A program or driver download Will usually say  
How Much Information Produced How many bytes In Bytes
How much information each person on earth produces per year 1 to 2 exabytes  1,000,000,000,000,000,000
How much of the above is printed information .03% of the total  
How much e-mail information per year 11,265 terabytes       11,265,000,000,000,000
How much radio information 788 terabytes           788,000,000,000,000
How much TV information 14,150 terabytes       14,150,000,000,000,000
How much telephone information 576,000 terabytes     576,000,000,000,000,000
How much postal information 150,000 terabytes     150,000,000,000,000,000
How much office document information 195 terabytes           195,000,000,000,000