Byte addressing 8 bits; in fact, depending on the platform, byte sizes of 1 to 48 bits have been used in the past. Therefore, the term "octet" is used where the context makes byte-length ambiguous. For example, in the 1980s, Honeywell mainframes had 36-bit words, and were byte-addressable in 9-bit bytes, or "nonets", They used 7- or 8-bit character codes, either of which were stored one to each 9-bit byte, making characters individually addressable. To illustrate why byte addressing is useful, consider the IBM 7094, which is word-addressable and has no concept of a byte. It has 36-bit words, and stores its
Byte (magazine) reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, "Byte" magazine finally has moved into separate offices of its own." Wayne Green was not happy about losing "Byte" magazine so he was going to start a new one called "Kilobyte". "Byte" quickly trademarked KILOBYTE as a cartoon series in "Byte" magazine. The new magazine was called "Kilobaud". There was competition and animosity between Byte Publications and 73 Inc. but both remained in the small town of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Articles in the first issue (September, 1975) included "Which Microprocessor For You?" by Hal Chamberlin, "Write Your Own Assembler" by Dan Fylstra and "Serial Interface"