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Article #5004Re: All numeric representation of dates
From: William Thomas Wolfe,2847,
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 1988 17:05
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 1988 17:05
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2395 bytes
From article <1988Aug28.010835.17290@utzoo.uucp>, by henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer):
> In article <622@uwovax.uwo.ca> miller@uwovax.uwo.ca (Greg Miller) writes:
>>The international standard for the representation of dates in all numeric form
>>is ISO 2014. As far as I am aware, the University of Western Ontario has
>>officially adopted this format for the all numeric representation of dates.
>
> Of course, in (at least) English-speaking areas, where people are much more
> familiar with the month names than the month numbers, using all-numeric
> dates in the human interface is STUPID STUPID STUPID.
>
> I also question the human engineering of forms that put the year first.
> It is consistent, and in some sense elegant, but it is poorly adapted to
> human needs. The most important information should be first. For most
> uses of dates, that is the day number, followed by the month.
Ah, I see... Tell me, do you think your odometer should present
the last two digits first, then some verbal representation of
the next-to-last two digits, followed by the remaining digits?
If not, then why should a chronometer be any different??
If you REALLY want to question methods of presenting time, why
not investigate the asinine 12-hour format used in the United
States? The 24-hour, European standard is MUCH more sensible
than the American practice of ignoring the large carrier space
provided by the two-digit hour representation, and then requiring
the use of two extra alphabetical characters to indicate which
portion of the 24-hour carrier space is intended...
But in a country which continues to use the obsolescent British
measurements when even Britain has abandoned it in favor of the
far more sensible metric system, such stupidity is to be expected.
Bill Wolfe
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!alberta!ubc-cs!uw-beaver!cornell!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!hubcap!billwolf From: billwolf@hubcap.clemson.edu (William Thomas Wolfe,2847,) Newsgroups: comp.text,comp.std.internat Subject: Re: All numeric representation of dates Message-ID: <2882@hubcap.UUCP> Date: 28 Aug 88 17:05:24 GMT References: <1988Aug28.010835.17290@utzoo.uucp> Sender: news@hubcap.UUCP Reply-To: billwolf@hubcap.clemson.edu Lines: 35