title: Why byte-addressable memory and not 4-byte-addressable memory?
body: <p>Why do computers have byte-addressable memory, and not 4-byte-addressable memory (or 8-byte-addressable memory for 64bit)?  Yeah, I see how it could be useful sometimes, it just seems inelegant and excessive.  Are the advantages substantial, or is it really just because of legacy?</p>