I just learned that kilobyte and megabyte refer to the 1000 scale units while "kibibyte" and "mebibyte" are apparently the names for the 1024 scale units. Everything I know is a lie!
@lnxist yes - but using those terms makes you sound inexperienced, like someone who reads ¼” as "one fourth of an inch" rather than "a quarter inch". It's not wrong, but a bit awkward and falls oddly on the ear. KiB &c may be used in writing, however.
More commonly the SI prefixes are used for both and if the distinction becomes important (& context is insufficient) one clarifies "decimal kilobyte" or "binary kilobyte", and we just agree to ignore the purists who complain about the sanctity of the Greek roots.
@khird True! Which is why I'm still going to verbally say "kilobyte" and "megabyte". Only difference I'll probably make is using KB vs KiB where appropriate now in writing.
Apparently the distinction is for the conflicts with the SI prefix of kilo and mega being defined as powers of ten (not in relation to 1024).