Byte explicitly denotes a sequence of eight bits, eliminating the ambiguity of the byte. The term "byte" was coined by Werner Buchholz in June 1956, during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer, which had addressing to the bit and variable field length (VFL) instructions with a byte size encoded in the instruction. It is a deliberate respelling of "bite" to avoid accidental mutation to "bit". Another origin of "byte" for bit groups smaller than a machine's word size (and in particular groups of four bits) is on record by Louis G. Dooley, who claimed he coined the term
Walkie bits Walkie bits Walkie Bits are little plastic toy turtles that sing, dance and walk (they can walk in the rhythm which you tap on their shell). They are made by Takara, a Japanese toy company in June 2005. Walkie Bits are very small, only about five centimeters, and come in a variety of different colors and "flavors" like "blue soda" and "green pineapple". The Walkie Bits turtles are very popular in Japan, with 300,000 units sold within just a few months of their release. Many Japanese people collect them because there are so many colors and they are relatively inexpensive.