Re:Show HN: USA.css – units set in inches, 1776 bytes
by ghusbands on Sunday July 05, 2020 @06:42AM
(#23737781)
I believe they're saying it's ironic that, despite the base-2 values being ideal for binary computers, users are having to use base-10 to enter them into the computer and hence getting none of the possible advantage. I don't believe they're making a value judgement.
Re:Show HN: USA.css – units set in inches, 1776 bytes
by Symbiote on Sunday July 05, 2020 @05:20AM
(#23737529)
You find it more difficult to choose between 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, 8mm drill bits than 1/16 5/64 3/32 7/64 1/8 9/64 5/32 1/4 7/32 3/16 inches?
What's 3/16" in 64ths, while under your car?
(Imperial numbers copied from a website selling a set, metric from my memory of my 10-bit set. I doubt these sets are similar.)
I don't understand this comment at all. Most people are not computer programmers and therefore have no insight into how computers represent numbers. They just populate text fields in Excel, or whatever, with numbers. It's easier to use decimal points to do that than fractions.
When I'm not using computers or calculators, I do prefer American-style fractions over decimal point representations. Fractions are a lot easier for me to manipulate in my head. If I'm out in my garage, upside down, underneath a car, and trying to decide which drill bit to use, I don't have convenient access to the calculator on my cell phone or a pencil and paper, and reliable mental math is important. The fractions are easier, so that's what I want.