91av

Letter: Future shock

Published 24 July 1999

From Andrew Bluemel

Most digital watches I have bought for about £25 have calendars that
will work between 1990 and 2039, which is more than adequate for the expected
life of the watch. So I was quite impressed last year when I bought a pocket
travel clock for £15 whose calendar works from 1901 to 2099. It will
definitely see me out.

Last week I bought a mini-databank, the MiniPad, from Bluebird Toys. It was
originally priced at £7.50, but I paid a “clearance” price of £1.87.
Not only does this brightly coloured “toy” allow the input of any date between 1
and 9999, but it also correctly adjusts for leap years in years ending in “00”
over this range, following the Gregorian calendar. That is, it adds a 29
February to years ending in “00” only if they are divisible by 400.

When I tried it out, this device proudly indicated that 7200 will be a leap
year and 7300 will not. For just £1.87, I have a device that will store 20
telephone numbers, do floating-point arithmetic and keep track of the Gregorian
calendar for the next 8000 years.

I think I will have it placed in my coffin, so that archaeologists of the
distant future will have a convenient way of knowing the date when they find my
remains.

Chester

Issue no. 2196 published 24 July 1999

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