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A kilobyte (KB) is a unit of digital information storage, commonly abbreviated as KB. Historically, it has been used to represent both \(1,024\) bytes (or \(2^{10}\)) for memory and storage, and \(1,000\) bytes (or \(10^{3}\)) for data transfer speeds and storage media capacity. Kilobytes are used to measure small file sizes and are a foundational unit for understanding larger units like megabytes and gigabytes. 

Definition and value In computing: One kilobyte is equal to \(1,024\) bytes because computer memory is based on powers of \(2\).

In metric and data transfer: Based on the metric prefix "kilo," one kilobyte is equal to \(1,000\) bytes.

In practice: The term is often used loosely. When discussing file sizes or memory, it typically means \(1,024\) bytes. When discussing data transfer rates or the capacity of hard drives and flash media, it typically means \(1,000\) bytes.