It surprises me a little that you of all people in SI, would have a problem with decimalization.
I mean you; a star grubber has a problem with the easiest, most common sense system of keeping track of numbers?
Come on?
Look...
Imagine dividing the dollar in... say...
Shillings (I believe it was 20 of them), to make a pound sterling.
Then it was 12 pence to make the one shilling.
Ah yes, and it did not stop there.
Then they had crowns and 1/2 crown. (I have forgotten how many crowns to a pound.)
Then to make it even more confusing, they had guineas (or was it Guinness -g-) yes that would be ONE pound AND one shilling.
I mean what a totally moronic system to divide your currency.
So the Englishmen had this idiotic pricing system:
75 £ 5 sh. & 3 p (say for an expensive shirt, probably custom made) at the time one pound sterling it was equal to roughly about $2.50 US.
Now....
Around 1966, during the soccer world cup, in which the Russian referee kindly allowed a non-existent goal to the Brits. So they could win their only win in the world cup as the locals over (at the time of the cold war), West Germans, the British government came to their senses --an extraordinary event for ANY politician-- and yes, because since then they have been threatening the world with Great Britain joining the rest of their European " Continentals", they decided to finally... "Go Decimal" on their currency.
Now, we all can read and understand British pricing as now it reads.... well... simply...
£50.35 (or £50 and 35 pennies)
Ah the magic of the decimal point...
I will give you a word of advice...
This is comparable to learning a new language. (If your ancestors are from Anglo-Saxon origin, you will have a problem, but then again, there is nothing one can do about that it is genetics -gg-).
The advice?
It is foolish to attempt to "translate, or convert" from the horrible so called "standard" system of 1/8's 1/16ths. 1/32snds. 1/64's etc... To the simple "decimal" system.
Why?
Because you will go nuts in the process...
In learning a language, you have to think IN THAT LANGUAGE. It is the only way you will learn it fluently. Besides, many times there is no way to "translate" certain expressions...
For example, if you speak English, (or should I say... American?), every one understands the term "hot dog" when you are taking about food... (Or even referring to a "good surfer, or driver, or aviator").
If you attempt to translate such to Italian, or Spanish (and I assume to French as well), if you say...
Let's take Spanish... hot dog "perro caliente” they will think you are crazy because that roughly means a dog with fever or worse... a "horny"" dog. --GGG--. Actually there s no translation, people do refer to them as "hot-dogs" (the food, not the horny dog).
Same with numbers...
By the time you translate (or figure out) that 1.05 is close to 1 1/16 (1.0625) it will be too late. You need to train your mind that the "1.05" means just that "1.05"
However, I will tell you what I have found out:
Decimalization has created a way for market makers, to a degree, play with orders and bids & asks because at the mere change of a single penny (.01 cent)... Your order will be deemed "away from market". This, together with the "auto-fill" bullshit (where arbitrarily the M/M determine the number of shares that are filled in an order), this could be set at their own will... 200, 500, 1,000 or whatever they decide.
The M/M (unintendedly, I believe), have gained an advantage over the trading public due to decimalization.
Why?
They set the controls and depending on the market conditions they regulate how many shares and at what price they will sell or buy stock.
It is NOT the one-penny difference. . Because by the time you change the order and for how long the market stays at a specific price, (based on the "auto fill") there may be more than the one-penny difference.
This is the real bad deal... decimalization on its own is a good thing, simpler.
Actually, decimalization should be extended to all other forms of measurement.
I mean... 12 inches to a foot (whose damned foot?) And 3 feet to a yard? It is easier... 100 centimeters to a meter, 1,000 meters to a kilometer.
5,260 feet to a mile? What bullshit is that? -gg-
American Gallon, Imperial Gallon? Please go with liters. More accurate and easier to keep track of.
You ought to follow the lead of the Great White North; they went decimal many years ago...
Of course... all of the above in jest, just in case there is a "non-decimal" mind out there -g- |
