[USMA:23431] Re: New and improved One Metre (Metric in Canada) web site

[kilopascal]

2002-11-17     From the your sub-site:  http://members.shaw.ca/metric/shopper.html   I would not suggest using numbers less than one being shown without a leading zero.  Ex.  0.99, not .99.  We really want to break people of this habit of using naked decimal points.  It is a bad practice and no matter how common it might be, it must be shown to be wrong and bad.   Also, something of interest, I have a deutsche welle language text book entitled "auf deutsch gesagt", and in one of the "conversations" between a consumer and a grocer, the grocer tells the consumer that a "kilo" of apples is 8.  Thus, there are 125 g per apple.  Yes, I know that the difference between 120 g and 125 g is trivial, but if we want to get people use to the kilogram, we need to educate them as to what they get for a kilogram.  Also, with things priced per kilogram it is important that consumers know how many pieces they are getting per kilogram.  Pricing per 10 pieces may be nice for those that need to know the unit price per piece, but that is not the way items are advertised or sold.   Such as 8 apples or 5 banannas etc.  It then makes it easier for them to see if they are getting a lot or few for their 2.19 $. It has to be kept simple.  This is the way people will see and experience that SI is truely easier.   John