I don't see it as a major problem. I have no difficulty saying 1776-07-04
out loud and without hesitation as "July the fourth, seventeen-seventy-six."
I have to admit, though, I can see it as a problem for anyone who is
dyslexic. ("Dyslexics of the World untie!")
Someone mentioned the MS Windows default on date format. As Windows allows
an easy change to ISO-8601 format (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss), resetting it is
simply a one-time task. MS Excel is equally flexible for cells in date and
time columns. The ISO-8601 formats are in the "Custom" list. I receive
membership spreadsheets, regularly, with expiration dates in US format. It
takes me about 15 s to change the applicable column to ISO-8601 format.
Bill
_____
Bill Potts
W <http://wfpconsulting.com/> FP Consulting
Roseville, CA
<http://metric1.org/> http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
_____
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Stephen Mangum
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:38
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:43645] Re: 24 hour time
I prefer DD-MM-YYYY (and other formats in this order), but have found myself
writing YYYY-MM-DD as of late. The problem I have with the latter is the
difficulty in reading it. 4 July 1776 can be read "the fourth of July,
seventeen seventy six." How does one read 1776-07-04? Or is the discussion
about announcements and hours and not prose? What I like about the ISO
standard is the lack of confusion: I think most Americans will know what it
means, while they will read 04/07/1776 as "March seventh."
Stephen Mangum
On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Brian J White <[email protected]> wrote:
There aren instances where that's handy.....but really, ISO standard is the
way to go, worldwide.
It's more hidden than anything else. I usually see it on receipts and
schedules and such. But not for "human" use per se. Shame too, because it
works nicely worldwide.
At 11:08 2009-03-10, Stephen Humphreys wrote:
I like the "Oracle" (huge US software company) way of doing things:
'DD-MON-RR' or 'DD-MON-YYYY'
So today would be 10-MAR-09 or 10-MAR-2009
_____
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [USMA:43635] Re: 24 hour time
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:18:24 -0400
You are correct in fostering the use of the ISO date format; however,
I prefer to use a dash (-) rather than a slash (/) as a separator in the
date format.
For example 20009-03-10. A dash makes it better readable.
Stan Doore
----- Original Message -----
From: John <mailto:[email protected]> Frewen-Lord
To: U.S. Metric <mailto:[email protected]> Association
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:49 AM
Subject: [USMA:43628] Re: 24 hour time
The best way for the US to change its date format is to go straight to the
ISO format of YYYY/MM/DD. When Canada converted in the late '70s, this was
the official format at the time, and all Canadian Federal and Provincial
government documentation at the time had to follow this format.
Regretfully, and primarily thanks to Mr Gates, this seems to have been
abandoned, due in no small part to Windows defaulting to the US-only format,
regardless of which country it is sold in.
This is not merely of academic interest. I bank with HSBC, and have both UK
and Canadian bank accounts, including something called Global View, where I
can view on line (and switch money on line between) my accounts in both
countries simultaneously. The UK accounts are shown in DD/MM/YY format.
The Canadian ones are shown in MM/DD/YY format when looking at statement
summaries or selecting a date range to view a statement - but the individual
entries in that statement are shown in DD/MM/YY format! Needless to say
this is infuriating and confusing, and I wonder why HSBC do this, as they
are UK-based. However, my printed Canadian statements are postmarked in NY
State with US postage, so there must be a US connection in there somewhere.
If anyone does online currency trading, all the trading platforms are in
YYYY/MM/DD format, and various online videos I receive from US-based gurus
and experts are also usually shown in this format. This does save a lot of
confusion.
----- Original Message -----
From: David <mailto:[email protected]>
To: U.S. Metric <mailto:[email protected]> Association
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:07 AM
Subject: [USMA:43625] 24 hour time
What are the changes of the United States adopting 24 hour time instead of
the AM/PM thing? Would there be some kind of law (which would probably occur
after metrication) or would it just be one of those things people just
adopt? What about date standards? I would like to see America start using
DD/MM/YY instead of MM/DD/YY. What does it take for a country to adopt a
date/time standard?
_____
Windows Live just got better. Find
<http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/134665375/direct/01/> out more!
--
Stephen
