Re: Big numbers

At 15:22:29 on Sun, 12 Oct 2008, David M <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in <slrngf4215.oq2.david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

We already often informally use 'k' (kilo) for 1000, and, conveniently,
the symbol for mega- (M) is the same as that used for 'million'. Given
that our computers have increasingly large hard disks, we're all pretty
familiar with G/giga and T/tera as well (and I dare say peta- and so on
soon enough), I don't see why, as we start to encounter scarily
ever-larger numbers, we don't just use the SI prefixes for money as
well (eg, $3T = "three tera-dollars")? These have clearly-defined
meanings and so there is no risk of confusion.

Well, the "informal" use of K for 1000 very neatly demonstrates the problem with your proposal. If I applied for, and got, a job which was advertised at a salary of £30K, I would be somewhat miffed if I ended up with only £30,000 instead of £30,720! (Especially since any job that I applied for would be in the world of computing.)

If we follow your suggestion and simply redefine K as 1,000, M as 1,000,000 etc., it does rather echo the urban legend that Alabama legislated to change the value of pi to 3.
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Charlotte Green (was: SAMPA)
    ... I've heard about these blokes who sit down at their computers and forget all about human contact for days on end. ... I find Peter Donaldson's enunciation pleasing, and if you put your hand on his shoulder when he's talking you can feel the resonance - the man's a sound-box on legs. ... They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety ...
    (uk.culture.language.english)
  • Re: COMPLAINT ABOUT MODERATION
    ... David, my posts tend to be esoteric because I am an esoteric thinker, ... "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Oops, amendment to prior post
    ... DOES that also open up the Computers to being able to install ANY ... They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.active_directory)
  • Oops, amendment to prior post
    ... DOES that also open up the Computers to being able to install ANY ... They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: PAD Supergirl: Did She Matter So Little?
    ... David and all of his work at DC. ... ATLANTIS CHRONICLES. ... Liberty, to purchase a little ... temporary Safety, deserve neither ...
    (rec.arts.comics.dc.universe)