A posting to the metric sucks site:
Here's another example of why we need international
standards (from the LA Times):
"Unlike in Europe and Asia, where uniform wireless
standards make choosing cell phone service relatively simple, the U.S. market
is divided among three major transmission standards that can make one
company's phone useless on another network. Carriers exploit those differences
-- and couple them with long-term service contracts with hefty termination
fees -- to bolster customer loyalty.
For example, Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS use a
digital technology called code-division multiple access to transmit phone
calls. As a result, the two carriers' phones can't be used on networks run by
AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc.,
which use a competing standard called GSM, or global system for mobile
communications. They also cannot be used with Nextel Communications, which
uses a third standard."
I said it before and I'll say it again: we need
1
system of measurement throughout the world,
1 cell phone system,
1
currency in Europe, 1 currency in Latin America, 1 currency in SE Asia,
etc.
