Summary
- A seemingly innocent article regarding estimation between metric and US traditional units caused quite a stir in the Hackaday comment section.
- The article claims that both systems are arbitrary, and while this is true, the author also highlights the benefit of knowing both systems and when it is important to be careful to call out the units being used.
- For example, in PCB layout, it is common to use both metric and imperial units.
- The article also notes that the UK is “the absolute kings of this”, using miles to measure the distance between cities, but meters for apartment dimensions, and liters and pints for gas and beer, respectively.
- The article concludes that while it is fun to know and use both systems, it is important to be careful to use the correct units, especially in critical applications.
- The article also links to a YouTube video regarding an unusual numerical representation system “0402”.
- The author humorously claims that “402 inches is large, and 402 mm is forearm-length so that’s not it,” but the solution to the issue of representing units of measure is readily apparent to most readers.
One of the commenters summed it up nicely: surprise!