Dennis Brownridge wrote in USMA 8898:
>I stand corrected by Leonardo. In USMA 8795, I said that tapes numbered in
>cumulative centimeters (which I called style 1) were most common in both the
>US and Europe. But Leonardo says that a fifth style I have never seen
>(described by him below) is actually most common in Europe. So it seems that
>Joe's "European style" (style 1) is really the American style and his
>"American style" (my style 2) is closer to Leonardo's European tapes, but
>numbered in millimeters instead of centimeters. Leonardo says they also
>have style 4. Joe, where did you see tapes numbered in cumulative
>centimeters in Europe?
>One advantages of SI that's easy to sell to Americans is that the tapes (if
>style 1) are very simple--one continuous set of numbers, with no extra
>little numbers or letters in a different color to confuse you, and no clumsy
>fractions.
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Leonardo Boselli
>>>
>> I have many meters, mostly french, but also some german, Italian
>> and chinese ones.
>> ALL are marked at every cm (all have the mm graduation, anyway)
>> starting from 0 to 99.
>> Full decimeters are marked 1m20 and so on (the meter is larger
>> size than the cm figures) . Cm restart from every meter, so for a
>> certain part it is more similar to your "american way"
>> I have seen also tapes that have only the dm numbered (again
>> m.cm - in this case these does not have the mm marks)
>> I have seen the cm above 100 only on double meters (that is tape
>> or rods 2 meter or less long).
I am afraid that I was guilty of extrapolating from two tapes that I have.
The European tape is a Cisco Uni-Matic 5 m that I bought in France. I have
been told that Cisco is a British company. My American example is a Sears
Craftsman 992225 13 mm x 3.65 m, made in Canada.
My objection to the Sears tape is that it uses millimetre numbers at each
centimetre. That involves 100 useless zeros every metre, and samll red
metre numbers every decimetre, easily overlooked.
My preference is definitely for the Cisco tape. It labels every centimetre
with its centimetre number, right up to 500. At every decimetre the
centimetre number is in bold red.
