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Good exchange!
Parts of their response are ludicrous!
Keep 'pegging away' at them. If "Leo P." can be
educated, even a little bit, he may be on our side sooner rather than
later.
Duncan
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: U.S.
Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date:
January 29, 2001 00:49
Background: I was in Canada the
last two weeks and when I dialed into AOL
using Montreal, Moncton or Toronto
access numbers, I got the local weather,
express in both FFU and SI.
(The SI option isn't offered when dialing from
the USA.)
Noting "kph" for wind speed I wrote to AOL. Here's the dialogue:
I originally wrote --
I'm in Montreal right now and clicked on
the weather display.
Thanks for providing it and for showing
appropriate units (degrees Celsius,
etc.). Two suggestions:
No
one up here uses Fahrenheit at ALL. Could you show the Celsius first?
The abbreviation for kilometers per hour (wind speed) is km/h, not
kph.
(That should be first, too.)
The response from AOL:
Dear Carleton,
Hello, I am Leo from America Online
(AOL) . As a Customer Care Consultant
from the TechMail
Department, it is my pleasure to assist you regarding any
concerns you
may have.
We appreciate member feedback because it is the best way
for us to know
what we are doing right -- and what we could do better.
Many of the changes made throughout the years have been the result
of
suggestions and ideas offered to us by members just like you. So
please,
send us more of your suggestions. I have passed your comments to
the
appropriate staff members here at America Online. I've also included
some
keyword links that you will find most helpful in reporting other
suggestions and ideas to us, as well as if you're experiencing
difficulty
with any area of America Online.
To make a suggestion
to AOL, please visit Keyword: Suggestions.
Please feel free to write me again at any time.
Leo P.
Customer Care Consultant
TechMail Department
America Online
(AOL).
P.S. The abbreviation for Kilometers Per Hour is KPH and not
Km/H...this is
used in Engineering Units.
And my response
back to him:
Actually, not. Rules for the use of SI (Systeme
International, often called
the Metric System) is governed by the Bureau
internationale des poids et
mesures, a worldwide governing authority
headquarted in France that has all
major nations, including the USA, as
signatory. The publication for the use
of SI can be found at
www.bipm.fr/pdf/si-brochure.pdf, and page 109 (page 29
of 72 on the pdf
document) , entitled "The writing of SI names and symbols",
clearly
indicates that the solidus (/) is to be used to express a derived
unit
formed from two other units by division, such as m/s (meters per second)
or km/h (kilometers per hour).
This may also be found at
the site of the US Metric Association
(http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/correct.htm) where it indicates,
among
other things:
"The symbol for a compound unit that is
a quotient of two units is indicated
by a solidus or by a negative
exponent..
"RIGHT: km/h or km�h-1 (for kilometers per hour)
"WRONG: kmph or kph (do not use p as a symbol for "per".)
"BUT: It is correct to say or write "kilometers per hour". "
I'm not sure what is meant by "engineering units" but in this case it
appears
that the international metric authority governs.
Carleton
MacDonald
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The struggle continues.
cm
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