TL;DR: I'm looking for opinions on why this question should be open or closed.
Summary: I now understand why it has been closed: It is not a real problem because it has no practical use.
http://superuser.com/questions/287663/why-are-there-8-bits-per-byte
Why did such a valid and interesting question got closed?
The user is a computer enthusiast.
It's about computer hardware, how it works.
It's not about
videogames or consoles
websites or web services like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface
a shopping or buying recommendation
It's a practical, answerable question based on an actual problem he faces:
He doesn't understand why it stopped at 8.Every answer is equally valid.
The answer is not provided in the question.
There is an actual problem to be solved: He doesn't understand why it stopped at 8.
It is not open-ended or hypothetical, there is a definitive answer that you don't have to guess about.
It is not disguised rant, he is clearly asking for something.
It is not a discussion, there is a definitive answer.
It is not for any other Stack Exchange site, it fits perfectly on Super User.
It's nice, honest; the user did nothing wrong.
It's not an exact duplicate, it hasn't been covered earlier on Super User
It's not off-topic, it fits perfectly on Super User.
It's not subjective or argumentative, there are no opinions or have experiences about it, no discussion.
It is a real question, it has an single valid answer.
It's not too localized, it would benefit others in the future.
Or in other words, I don't see how it differs from a question like the following which is still open:
What is the difference between a kibibyte, a kilobit, and a kilobyte?
Or perhaps: