Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!texsun!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: mlm@homxc.att.com (Mark L Milliman) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Proper Usage of Units of Measurement Message-ID: Date: 30 Jul 89 15:44:39 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: AT&T-Bell Laboratories Lines: 21 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 265, message 3 of 7 For the past year or so I have noticed a trend that disturbs me and could confuse others. I first saw this happen in our company's sales and marketing departments, but then I saw it in our technical organization a couple times! Now I see it used in industry publications and on the net. I am talking about how we are misusing our units of measurement. More specifically, dropping the "per second" from Megabits/second. Most of us deduce that the "per second" should be appended to the Megabits when we see it missing, but novice readers could be confused by the omission. Can I connect a T1 line to my PC and use it to store 1.544 Mb of data? I can think of some more ridiculous examples, but I am sure that you understand. Can anyone explain why this is happening? Are we just too lazy to type an extra two letters or is the "per second" meaningless? I am curious to know why this is proliferating. I am waiting to see it in advertising. I'm not picky, just an engineer, Mark L. Milliman Internet: mlm@homxc.att.com AT&T Bell Labs UUCP: att!homxc!mlm Holmdel, NJ 07733 (201)949-0796