The definition of a byte today is different than the definition of byte when those machines were manufactured. Just like how 'foot' is now standardized(*)
(* technically, a 'foot' is not a standard unit of measure but that's due to the long history of 'foot' not being standardized until relatively recently)
A byte is not always 8 bits on old machines, though it is standardised as 8 bits nowadays.
This is why network RFCs talk of "octets", to avoid the ambiguity. Octets are always 8 bits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octet_(computing)
I didn't realize that there was a 16 bit name called a 'chomp' haha. But more formally hextet.
The definition of a byte today is different than the definition of byte when those machines were manufactured. Just like how 'foot' is now standardized(*)
(* technically, a 'foot' is not a standard unit of measure but that's due to the long history of 'foot' not being standardized until relatively recently)
I think you might be missing the attempt at humor.