It amuses me when people(even The Geeks) can’t tell the difference between megabits per second (mbps) and megabytes per second (MB/s). They usually end up quoting some completely impossible speed without realizing that their speeds are actually way much slower than they think.
Using the picture below as an example, 50 mbps sounds like a lot, right? Well, it’s actually 6.25 MB/s, which isn’t all that good. To be fair, I’m sure many — if not most — Internet providers list their speeds in mbps because it sounds more impressive. I know that sounds ridiculous. After all, who’d ever fall for that?
Well… pretend for a moment that you’re the “average user” and what you know about computers in general could maybe fill a business card. If someone offered you 50 mbps or 10 MB/s, which would you take?Most people would opt for the former because they likely couldn’t tell mbps apart from MB/s (and that assumes they’re even observant enough to notice there’s a difference at all), so the only point of reference they have is the number itself.
