Subject:
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Re: LEGO Mentioned in Business Week
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Sun, 21 Feb 1999 15:21:47 GMT
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Viewed:
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346 times
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Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> Maybe c60 doesn't but I can get well beyond the number of pieces I'm
> ever likely to amass
Whatever.
> Each adds 3 zeroes - Let's try the British idea, every time, you get 2 of the same word you go up a step.
100 (ten tens)
> Thousand = 1000 (hundred hundred)
> Million = 1,000,000 (thousand thousand - that's where the logic starts)
> Billion = 1,000,000,000,000 (million million)
> Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (billion billion)
> Quadrillion = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (trillion trillion)
The American system agrees up to a million but then defers away from the
logic for some reason - I expect it is easier to name a number by
counting the zeros and commas with the US system.
Well, you get the idea. In this case numbers are really big.
I don't know why the Americans took a system which was already there and
changed it - now everyone is confused (I am presuming here that the
British system was here first (I bet someone will disprove me)).
It's a bit like the illogical dating system:
Normal: DD/MM/YYYY - it's constantly ascending
American: MM/DD/YYYY - what order is that in?
Some countries use YY/MM/DD - constantly descending.
What if I had this date:
05/02/98 - now is that:
A) 5th February 1998
or B) 2nd May 1998 - what if I had an InterNet site from an unknown
source - I wouldn't have a clue would I?
I hope this keeps within the boundaries of this newsgroup :-)
--
Carbon 60
ICQ # 5643170 - 5 million 643 thousand 170.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: LEGO Mentioned in Business Week
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| (...) Hey! Don't blame the Americans! I don't remember the complete details (dive into lugnet.robotics for references and/or the complete story), but I think the French came up with the system currently used by Americans. The French used it for (...) (25 years ago, 22-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: LEGO Mentioned in Business Week
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| Maybe c60 doesn't but I can get well beyond the number of pieces I'm ever likely to amass Each adds 3 zeroes Thousand Million Billion Trillion Quadrillion Quintillion Sextillion Septillion Octillion That's where I forget what comes next. But (...) (25 years ago, 16-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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