XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: jclarkeusenet@cox.net   
      
   In article ,   
   droleary@4usenet2013.subsume.com says...   
   >   
   > In article ,   
   >  Greg Goss  wrote:   
   >   
   > > Doc O'Leary  wrote:   
   > >   
   > > >everyone   
   > > >would probably be better off if cash transactions were rounded up/down   
   > > >to the nearest 10 cents.   
   > >   
   > > Canada dumped the penny recently.  The cents are there for credit or   
   > > debit transactions, but cash is rounded to the nearest nickel.   
   >   
   > Another funny bit about money is that, electronically (and somewhat   
   > ironically), it is essentially "metric" (including into fractions of a   
   > penny), but cash is still very much handled in an "imperial" fashion.   
   > For change, we mainly break a dollar into 25, 10, 5, and 1.  It makes   
   > some sense to get rid of the 1 and 5 due to their current low value, but   
   > then you have that 25 hanging around without any good divisor.  Seems   
   > like it would make most sense to either go 25 and 5 or 10 and 1.  But   
   > far be it from me to propose that reality will ever get even *that*   
   > close to a "future shock" level of progress.  :-)   
   >   
   > As an aside, I always thought that a good way to get the US public into   
   > using the metric system would be to market the hell out of metric being   
   > a way to get *more*.  500 grams is *more* than a pound.  4 liters is   
   > *more* than a gallon.  100kph is *more* than 60mph.  Gluttony always   
   > wins in America.   
   >   
   > As a radical departure, why not a future society that has gone beyond   
   > metric into digital/binary values?   
      
   That's where the English system was headed until some bonehead decided   
   that it needed to be "fixed" by adopting the silly French system.   
      
   Ever look at an inch tape measure?  Most of them divide the inch into   
   binary fractions.  There are four quarts and 8 pints in a gallon, 16   
   ounces in a pint or pound, 16 drams in an ounce, etc.   
      
   > I think we've *already* advanced   
   > well past the notion of counting everything with just our 10 fingers.   
   > I've thought of doing this myself for corporate gift cards/certificates.   
   > I mean, why *not* have a $128 bill that nicely splits into two $64   
   > bills, that splits into four $32 bills, etc.?  Retro chic: bringing back   
   > pieces of eight!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)