Paul Trusten
On Nov 9, 2009, at 7:21, "John M. Steele" <[email protected]>
wrote:
I will see your measuring cup and raise you The Perfect Beaker
(tm). It should be renamed The Horrible Beaker and it is all
compounded by having been made in Germany. (I bought it because it
pushed a total into the free shipping range and cost less than paid
shipping).
It is quite conical, but sits on a wider base. This gives more
resolution for lower values. Nice shape, only the scales are
horrible. The circumference is divided into six fan-shaped zones
(about 50° of arc), each having two related scales. The zones are s
eparated by about 10°
Fan 1: Pints by quarters, two identical scales. American recipes
may occasionally reference whole pints, rarely fractions, and the UK
pint is a different size. What is the point?
Fan 2: Cups. One scale is by quarters, the other by thirds with the
odd addition of 1/8 and 1 1/8 cups
Fan 3: Fl oz (marked OZ). One scale is all the even values, 2-16,
the other, all the odd values 1-15. Given the separation, it would
be hard to estimate a half ounce.
Fan 4: Tablespoons. One scale is by gradations of 4 Tablespoons (+2
Tablespoons only is marked). Second scale has 3 T, 6 T, then in
increments of 4 T.
Fan 5: Teaspoons. One scale is marked 6, 18, 30, 42, 54, 66, 78,
90, 100. The other 12-96 t in 12 t increments.
Fan 6: Milliliters, mismarked ML/CCM. One scale is 40 - 480 mL with
40 mL gradations. The other is 60 - 500 mL, with 40 mL gradations,
plus a mark at 30 mL.
--- On Mon, 11/9/09, [email protected] <[email protected]
> wrote:
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:46139] Rubbermaid gets it wrong --- and makes the
case for metric
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Date: Monday, November 9, 2009, 1:58 AM
I'm staying at a residence hotel while visiting my company's
headquarters in Silicon Valley for a bunch of meetings. They provide
a small kitchen and some basic utensils to cook with.
One item that caught my eye is the Rubbermaid measuring cup in
metric and US Customary. I wrote Rubbermaid that ML is not the right
symbol for a 16 fluid ounce measuring cup. I hope they fix such
errors on all their products.
However, the more striking thing to me is that the USC measures are
listed side-by-side in ounces (1 to 16), pints (1/3, 2/3, 1/2, then
again 1/3, 2/3, and 1 PT, plus cups (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1C, 1/4, 1/3,
3/4, 2C). Beside the confusion (for me) of repeating the same
measures twice between 1/2 PT and 1PT and again between 1C and 2C,
the thing I notice the most is the weird multiplicity of units that
don't connect with each other in any coherent way. Contrast this
with the metric measure (wrongly labeled in ML, of course) that has
a single vertical line marked this way:
100 ML
200 ML
300 ML
400 ML
500 ML
Aside from the fact that it should be 100 ml, etc. (or 100 mL), what
could be cleaner and simpler? It's like the cup almost screams out
to say: You want convoluted? Use USC!!! You want simple? Use metric!
Or at least that's how I see it .... :-)
Ezra
