Xref: utzoo comp.lang.misc:3501 comp.arch:11470
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!ncar!unmvax!bbx!bbxsda!scott
From: scott@bbxsda.UUCP (Scott Amspoker)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.arch
Subject: Re: Fast conversions, another urban myth?
Message-ID: <150@bbxsda.UUCP>
Date: 22 Sep 89 15:30:46 GMT
References: <832@dms.UUCP> <688@UALTAVM.BITNET> <136@bbxsda.UUCP> <4125@cbnewsh.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: scott@bbxsda.UUCP (Scott Amspoker)
Organization: Basis International,  Albuquerque, NM
Lines: 32

In article <4125@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> beyer@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (jean-david.beyer) writes:
>>                                  .....It is a constant disappointment
>> when the scientific-oriented hardware industry forgets that some of
>> us need to have 100 pennies == 1 dollar.
>
>As a former scientific computer user, I hardly consider that the
>computer hardware industry is scientific-oriented.

OK, they're pissing *everybody* off.  :-)

I haven't done any real number crunching since college.  Professionally
I deal with business applications.  It's not as boring as many people
think.  (and I know where my bread is buttered).  I've always considered
companies like DEC and HP to be more scientific whereas IBM was business
oriented.

>I have never done business-oriented calculations, but  it seems to me,
>as an outsider, that calculating everything in pennies solves the round-off
>problems (but perhaps no others), doesn't it?

Because sometimes you need 3, 4, or more decimals places for calculations,
especially in some interest calculations.  People have inventories where
the unit price of a small item is a fraction of a penny (such items
are bought in *large* quantities).  I've seen the decimal scaling
approach work before but it's not always practical in a general purpose
environment.


-- 
Scott Amspoker
Basis International, Albuquerque, NM
(505) 345-5232