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Why choose the least used date format ?

  • Thread starter DeletedUser107616
  • Start date

DeletedUser110131

See, they have to choose the format of the country where people are the most likely to be confused and confounded by an unfamiliar format.

Apologies to US Americans: I see a barrel full of fish, and I can't help myself. The shame is on me, really.

The logical format is large to small, btw.
It's the only format that gives a chronological sort order, and it complies with all other number systems. The one in 199 denotes a higher value than both the nines combined.
 

DeletedUser9168

We are forced to accept American English spelling too. :(
 

DeletedUser107049

Actually, there is an International Standard for date format, ISO 8601, that is meant to define a date standard format to reduce the chance of error and the complexity of software [YYYY]-[MM]-[DD]. Proper English should be honoured :)
 

DeletedUser110131

Actually, there is an International Standard for date format, ISO 8601, that is meant to define a date standard format to reduce the chance of error and the complexity of software [YYYY]-[MM]-[DD]. Proper English should be honoured :)
Absolutely! And, if code isn't proper English, then what is? Of course, if you speak Cobol, you won't inspire much confidence about your reliability, calendar-wise...

Anyway, you're right. Those who don't know, ISO is the International Organization for Standardization, and is recognized by most countries.
 

DeletedUser110195

small to large or large to small - either way they are in order
placing the small in the middle...........:?
I think it should be obvious why we run M/D/Y...tell me, how often do you need to remember what YEAR it is? Is that something you need to keep track of on a daily or weekly basis? We don't care about Y, the only part of the date that matters is M/D...does the order of that matter in the slightest?
 

DeletedUser110131

I think it should be obvious why we run M/D/Y...tell me, how often do you need to remember what YEAR it is? Is that something you need to keep track of on a daily or weekly basis? We don't care about Y, the only part of the date that matters is M/D...does the order of that matter in the slightest?

Oh, the deliciousness of a topic that's completely insignificant in every practical sense, and comes down to pure principle and logic (known by some as "nit picking")!

It's not at all obvious. If it was, then that date format would reign supreme across the world. It doesn't.

You're right that the order doesn't really matter. As long as everybody knows which order it is, the capacity of the human brain is far beyond any strain that a short number sequence can cause. The problem is that people don't necessarily know.

Which brings us to ISO. To make sure that people know what goes in scientific and technological context, in international affairs, and in critical situations, they've set a standard. Their exact reasoning for choosing YYYY/MM/DD is unknown to me. However, I suspect that, in order to avoid accusations of bias, they looked for the most logical and consistent format, however marginal the difference may be. I also suspect that the format was chosen because it's consistent with the principles of mathematical number notation: Large to small.

What's for sure, is that the US format makes the least sense of all. I've heard your argument from Americans before; is it taught in kindergarten or primary school? Anyway, it's that there's rarely uncertainty about the year, and therefore it should be last. Very well. However, uncertainty about the month is also extremely rare, so, holding to that logic, it should be second to last. Peculiarly, at that point, this logic is discarded as far to unimportant to affect anything, and, mid reasoning, flipping a coin becomes the preferred solution.

Let's pause to consider that the year is more likely to be unknown than the millennium. Why, then, do even Americans write 2017, rather than 7102, and say "two thousand and seventeen", rather than "seven ten and two thousand"? This argument would have us invert all number notation.

You can rationally argue that the the larger is more likely to be known, and it should be small to large, or that the larger is more important (not knowing the year is worse than not knowing the day), and it should be large to small, or that it simply doesn't matter, and the standard can be arbitrary, as long as it's known, or any number of other fine rationales, such as the one I attributed to ISO. What you can't rationally do, is switch argumentation midway. That is profoundly irrational, with a clarity that makes it a near perfect as a dictionary example.
 
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DeletedUser4879

The USA still has the imperial system of meassures and measures temp. in Fahrenheit!
Seems like the only thing they are good at is making Atom bombs and Rockets
and wait for it.. annoying the hell out of the rest of the world....:hide:
 

DeletedUser110131

Now, now! The Fahrenheit scale is perfectly rational. Who cares when water freezes or boils? The important thing is when brine freezes. Of course, it's not really that important, since Fahrenheit failed to make a proper brine solution. The important thing is that 0° be in the general area of the freezing point of something that is almost brine. To make it perfectly logical, a temperature scale should always put the human body temperature at 90°. Or 96°. In fact, it's not really that important, since Fahrenheit couldn't make up his mind, and it ended up at 98°, anyway. Really, people, don't be so pedantic! The man did the best he could. Just because it's science, everybody expects it to be exact...

Remember, it was good enough to land the Americans on the Moon. Well, not really. They had von Braun to do all the math for them. And build the rockets. Still, they landed on the Moon, they have rockets, and they certainly are annoying. If that doesn't prove how rational the Imperial Measurement System is, nothing will.
 

DeletedUser103223

When someone asks you what the date is, do you respond by saying its March 13th 2017 or do you say its the 13th of march 2017. Many if not all american's respond in the 1st way. But the real reason its done the American way is because without America everyone would be saying
März 13 2017 and typing in German :)
 

DeletedUser110131

When someone asks you what the date is, do you respond by saying its March 13th 2017 or do you say its the 13th of march 2017. Many if not all american's respond in the 1st way. But the real reason its done the American way is because without America everyone would be saying
März 13 2017 and typing in German :)

Johnny-come-lately wants to brag? Of the Allies, the US was the last to join the fight against the Nazis; even later than the USSR, which so many American Exceptionalists are so fond of accusing of being late... Without Roosevelt more or less tricking and cajoling the US public into seeing a connection between Japan and Germany, the US never would've joined at all.

If you read some history from outside the US Primary through High School, written by others than American Exceptionalists, you'll quickly learn that the USSR was much more vital than the US in defeating the Nazis. All you have to do, really, is look at the numbers. The Eastern Front tied up several times more German troops than the Western Front; if those troops had been on the Western Front, it would've been a disaster beyond belief. The USSR started their advance before the Western powers, and they advanced faster. This isn't even seriously debated. Outside the US school system, it's a well known fact.

In the opinion of many historians, the USSR even saved US backsides from some serious pain in the Pacific, when the Red Army turned its attention toward the Japanese in China, but that's a more complex and controversial story.
 

DeletedUser108240

Traditionally America is where the RICH people live. That is deeply rooted in every European mind. Today it may not be as true as it once was, but it is still a consideration in how the game should be designed. It should optimally please the richest potential customers so they are more likely to buy diamonds, Europeans dont matter so much. Anyway every European can recognize and interpret the US format, most Americans are lost when presented with a date like 14-03-2017, they would read it as 3rd day in the 14th month, and maybe even get laughed at when they asked what month was the 14th. Not good.

But I agree whith those who say yyyy-mm-dd is a 'better' format for dates. easier to sort because it follows the radix rules for writing numbers
 
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Vesiger

Monarch
every European can recognize and interpret the US format
No, we can't :?
I almost never see it; when I do see it, I automatically interpret it as a 'normal' date, unless the result is obviously impossible, like 3/30/17.
Nobody ever wrote pounds, shillings and pence as 3s £12 6d - I simply can't think of any system where values are routinely quoted in jumbled order. I can handle dates written in computer sorting order (years first) or human sorting order (days first), but not ones with days stuck in the middle...
 

DeletedUser653

working for a global company we have this problem with PO and sales orders, in USA they send a PO to Europe with a date of 02/07/17 and theres a real risk the vendor puts that in their ERP system as 2nd July not the 7th Feb which the USA intended. But its not good taking on the euro way so DD/MM/YY because it has the same problem when sending PO from Europe to the USA.
The only clean solution is to change the months from a numerical representation to a text representation as DD/MMMM/YY ie 07/Febr/17 you must have 4 letters for the months text because in France June and July start with the same first 3 letters. So:

DD/MMMM/YY 07/Febr/17 is the only clean way of globally showing a date which can never be confused.
 

joesoap

Major-General
The only clean solution is to change the months from a numerical representation to a text representation as DD/MMMM/YY ie 07/Febr/17 you must have 4 letters for the months text because in France June and July start with the same first 3 letters. So:

DD/MMMM/YY 07/Febr/17 is the only clean way of globally showing a date which can never be confused.

May only has 3 letters
 

DeletedUser110131

Getting people to accept the clearly most nonsensical format as the international standard is neither realistic nor "clean". The only clean solution is for everyone to acquire a modicum of rationality, and accept the ISO standards.

That's right, I'm looking at you, USAmericans.

Of course, while clean, the realism of having USAmericans accept a rational standard is doubtful. Fortunately, that very resistance to rationality will soon enough turn them into a distant memory. All we have to do is wait.
 

DeletedUser110195

May only has 3 letters
May will also never be confused for another month, unless some language uses the same letter for rc and y.

Getting people to accept the clearly most nonsensical format as the international standard is neither realistic nor "clean". The only clean solution is for everyone to acquire a modicum of rationality, and accept the ISO standards.

That's right, I'm looking at you, USAmericans.

Of course, while clean, the realism of having USAmericans accept a rational standard is doubtful. Fortunately, that very resistance to rationality will soon enough turn them into a distant memory. All we have to do is wait.
We do things our way, not yours, deal with it. Have fun transforming into the borg where everyone conforms.

Individuality is irrelevant
You will be assimilated
Resistance is futile
 
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DeletedUser110131

I'm pretty sure that you're just repeating my sentiments.

the realism of having USAmericans accept a rational standard is doubtful.
That's me stating that you will do things your way.

All we have to do is wait.
That's me telling you, not only that I'm dealing with it, but exactly how I'm dealing with it.

Have fun transforming into the borg where everyone conforms.
Absolutely. The last issue a rabid, sorry, American individualist would want to conform on, is standards. Beware, though, that most non-Americans will immediately spot the fact that you're conforming to American national standards, which is, obviously, conforming. In other words, your argument should be reserved for domestic use. Either that, or you could take it all out, and invent your own, individual standards. After all, there are 64 ways to jumble the numbers in a date, and the characters for numbers don't have to mean the same thing to everyone. Why shouldn't '5' mean nine to you? Also, why accept the Imperial British standard for a foot? Didn't you guys have a revolution? Invent your own, individual standards for a foot! This is your chance to be ten foot tall. Well, at least in your own mind. Not to mention, the same words meaning the same thing to different people, whoever came up with that oppressive idea can't have been an American, that's for sure. A personal, individual language for every American, that is the thing for you guys. Being able to communicate with others is unbefitting an American individualist.

After all, conforming is horrible.

P.S.: Please take me seriously. I'm not at all trying to hasten America's demise. Absolutely not. I promise.
Edit: Fixed my initial, all too hasty math.
 
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Andrew420

Major
The Germans picked the date format for FoE not the Americans they could change it if they want its their choice
@Einrikr
Who cares how you feel about the Americans it adds nothing to the conversation
Your post pretty much implies that all Americans are ignorant and unable to communicate
All I can tell from it is that you are the one that's ignorant with the inability to communicate in a civilized way
That or your only a teenager :lol:
 
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