Funny story: When the Rubik's Cube first came out, the box proudly proclaimed: "More than 20 million combinations!"
Even in those days, it was known that it had vastly more than 20 million positions. I've wondered about the marketing guy's rationale. Obviously, "43 quintillion combinations" would not make sense to most people. But why not write, "20 billion" or "20 trillion"? Maybe it was too discouraging.
Douglas Hofstadter apparently published a correct analysis of the number of configurations in Scientific American in 1981... It's not as if it was anywhere remotely near being beyond the tools available to mathematics at the time.
Even in those days, it was known that it had vastly more than 20 million positions. I've wondered about the marketing guy's rationale. Obviously, "43 quintillion combinations" would not make sense to most people. But why not write, "20 billion" or "20 trillion"? Maybe it was too discouraging.