From: rja.carnegie@gmail.com   
      
   On 15/02/2026 18:40, Bobbie Sellers wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   > On 2/15/26 08:55, Paul S Person wrote:   
   >> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 08:11:51 -0500 (EST), kludge@panix.com (Scott   
   >> Dorsey) wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?=   wrote:   
   >>>> On Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:19:59 -0500 (EST), Scott Dorsey wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> "A penny's worth of better algorithm is worth a million dollars   
   >>>>>   worth of better hardware."   
   >>>>>       -- gus baird   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Was that back when programmers were being paid pennies to program   
   >>>> computers worth millions of dollars?   
   >>>   
   >>> Yes, as opposed today when programmers are paid pennies to write   
   >>> programs run on millions of computers each worth only a few dollars.   
   >>   
   >> Then shouldn't the "penny" be adjusted for inflation?   
   >   
   >      Yes but the US Penny is being eliminated due to cost. Last I read   
   > was about   
   >      4.6 cents to make each penny.  And it is now mostly zinc so not a   
   > copper's worth.   
      
   This comes up in Terry ptpratchett's comedy   
   fantasy novel, _Making Money_.   
      
   Summary and spoiler: A fantasy city reforms   
   the currency by inventing banknotes.   
      
   Along the way, the reluctant bank manager   
   meets the craftsmen who produce his metal   
   money, some of which indeed costs more than   
   its face value to make.  This isn't treated   
   as mad, but it is held up as a paradox.   
      
   I suppose in the old days in the real world,   
   value resided in actual metal, and a coin design   
   represented a statement that the coin actually   
   contained the right amount of the right metal.   
   Unless, as pointed out, someone trimmed some   
   off the edges.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)