In computing, the bit bucket is jargon for where lost computerized data has gone, by any means; any data which does not end up where it is supposed to, being lost in transmission, a computer crash, or the like, is said to have gone to the bit bucket — that mysterious place on a computer where lost data goes, as in:The errant byte, having failed the parity test, is unceremoniously dumped into the bit bucket, the computer's wastepaper basket.Millions of dollars in time and research data gone into the bit-bucket?Originally, the bit bucket was the container on Teletype machines or IBM key punch machines into which chad from the paper tape punch or card punch was deposited; the formal name is "chad box" or (at IBM) "chip box".The term was then generalized into any place where useless bits go, a useful computing concept known as the null device.