8 ms·
I have a minor in math, and I don't know what "shrinking by 30X" means. To me, decreases always start from 100%. So I think we are talking about a ~97% decrease
by jewayne 4y ago
I have a minor in math, and I don't know what "shrinking by 30X" means. To me, decreases always start from 100%. So I think we are talking about a ~97% decrease in size?
- JordanTenn 4y agoThanks for this note. I'm part of the DockerSlim and Slim.AI ecosystem. Will take this feedback and rework the way we phrase things. Thank you!
- reilly3000 4y agoit means... a lot!
- rr888 4y agoThanks I hate this, but seems to be everywhere now. "This products is now 3 times cheaper!", WTF. They still haven't got to percentages yet, like 200% off!!.
- bigpod 4y agoits more about being more like people say as smaller by 200% isnt as understandable as 30 times smaller
- SomeBoolshit 4y agoNeither of those makes any sense.
- bigpod 4y agothis is not valid but its what people say 30 times smaller.
- jewayne 4y agoI know and it drives me crazy. "Bigger" and "smaller" express differences, not fractions or multiples.
- nemetroid 4y agoIf I say "image A is 1 MB, image B is 30 times bigger", what is the size of B? I don't think many would respond "31 MB". If you consider it improper to use "bigger" in this way to express a multiple, how would you express that?
- fb03 4y agoI don't have a minor in math, and I instinctively thought "shrinking by 30x" means 1/30 of size.
- jonas21 4y agoYeah. "growing" = numerator. "shrinking" = denominator. It's nice because they're inverses - if you shrink by 30x, then grow by 30x, you're back where you started, whereas a 97% decrease in size followed by a 97% increase in size leaves you at ~6% of the original size.
- Karellen 4y agoBut "30x" is just another way of saying "3000%". Or, "3000%" is just another way of saying "30x". "Shrinking by 30x" means the same thing as "shrinking by 3000%".
- Karellen 4y agoHuh. Downdooted without explanation for correctly explaining how percentages work. Not something I expected on HN. Never change, interwebs!
- anon2020dot00 4y ago30x doesn't seem to mean 3000% but means 30 times original value. If I had starting capital of 100 usd and it increased by 20x then that means I gained 2000 usd which is 20x of my starting capital. EDIT: correction 30x is same as 3000%.
- bigpod 4y agoessentialy yes
- jewayne 4y agoI think if you want to say "1/30th of the size", you should say that. Growth is usually measured as a difference. For example, a 200% increase means the value has tripled.
- Fnoord 4y ago> I have a minor in math, and I don't know what "shrinking by 30X" means. X is input Y is output X / 30 = Y All you need to know, no minor required, as its taught on elementary school (age 11/12 or so?).
- Karellen 4y agoSo, shrinking by 2x means dividing by 2? But... doesn't shrinking by 1/2 also mean dividing by 2? Therefore, 1/2 == 2x ?? I feel like my elementary school math is letting me down somewhere.
- OJFord 4y agoDo you know what 'two times smaller' means?
- jewayne 4y agoNo I don't. That's my point. To me, the number that's two times smaller than x is -x. (x-2x)
- OJFord 4y agoI'm no mathematician and it wouldn't often be my choice of phrasing, but it seems unambiguous and clear to me; your definition is much stranger/less intuitive to me. We're clear on 'x is two times larger than y', right? x = 2*y An equivalent statement is 'y is two times smaller than x', but it conveys a construction more like: y = x/2 Which, since we're speaking English sentences, might change the emphasis/implication.
- bigDinosaur 4y agoThis is really just an English expression that doesn't map perfectly to the actual mathematics it's intended to describe. 2 times smaller does usually mean 1/2 by convention in English and I don't think there's anything more profound than to just say it is what it is.
- inopinatus 4y agoIf you try pronouncing that aloud as “…by a factor of 30” it’ll seem less ungrammatical.
- AtNightWeCode 4y agoFor compression or similar ratio is used.