4 ms·
Brilliant. Roman numerals are, after all, just letters. The "why haven't they used them?" becomes pretty jarring once you think about it.
by henriquemaia 6y ago
Brilliant. Roman numerals are, after all, just letters. The "why haven't they used them?" becomes pretty jarring once you think about it.
- rocqua 6y agoRoman numerals are a lot harder to do arithmetic with.
- henriquemaia 6y agoTrue. Maybe that's the reason why they chose that new system.
- Sharlin 6y agoRoman numerals are not a place-value system and you can’t make a computer use Roman numerals just by switching to a custom font.
- scatters 6y agoOpenType font shaping is shockingly powerful ([e.g.](https://blog.janestreet.com/commas-in-big-numbers-everywhere/) https://blog.janestreet.com/commas-in-big-numbers-everywhere...), so I'd be surprised if someone hasn't made a Roman numeral font already.
- Sharlin 6y agoHeh, I knew I should have said something about OpenType shenanigans :)