[zeveb]

> When doing science, is it inappropriate to distinguish between the numbers 1000 and 1024?

Of course not! In computers, 'kilo-' means 1,024; everywhere else it means 1,000. This is a simple rule; network-device and hard-drive manufacturers are just wrong when they violate it.

[ybx]

This is actually incorrect. "kilo-" always means 1000, and computers are not given some exception. 1024 is a KiB, 1000 is a KB.