Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!cbmvax!grr
From: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.arch
Subject: Re: *Why* do modern machines mostly have 8-bit bytes?
Message-ID: <2159@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-Jul-87 19:59:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: cbmvax.2159
Posted: Sat Jul 25 19:59:22 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 26-Jul-87 04:46:27 EDT
References: <142700010@tiger.UUCP> <2792@phri.UUCP> <8315@utzoo.UUCP> <2807@phri.UUCP> <3766@felix.UUCP> <6171@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Reply-To: grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 14
Xref: mnetor comp.unix.wizards:3431 comp.arch:1696

In article <6171@brl-smoke.ARPA> gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) ) writes:
> In article <3766@felix.UUCP> martin@felix.UUCP (Martin McKendry) writes:
> >... it was set to 48 because ... and they wanted a power-of-2 wordsize.
> 
> ??

8 6-bit characters per word.  8==2^3, etc.  I guess you can't blame them for
a little shortsightedness, since they tried so hard to do other neat things.
Handling integers a special case of floating point seems kind of strange too.

-- 
George Robbins - now working for,	uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing	arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV
Commodore, Engineering Department	fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)