4 ms·

The article was written for an American audience. I feel like if you went to a French article and it said "12 degrees" you would know to convert that to Fahren

The article was written for an American audience. I feel like if you went to a French article and it said "12 degrees" you would know to convert that to Fahrenheit, if you needed. And that's an even less common situation than second-language English speakers ending up on American articles.

midasz 2y ago
How come specifically American, and how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? A huge number of people speak English as a second language. Usually the notation follows the number, so it's kind of lazy to just say it's written for americans specifically - moreso as a counter to someone saying it's Farenheit instead of Celcius since I also clicked immediately thinking how is that possible.
- jader201 2y ago
  > how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? The first clue is the date, which is mm—dd-yyyy, only really used in the US. Also, while not “from glancing”, the article speaks in the context of heat in US cities. But yes, the author is likely taking for granted that non-US residents would read the article.
  - deaddodo 2y ago
    > But yes, the author is likely taking for granted that non-US residents would read the article. Why should they need to? Should French journalists account for French-speaking Americans? What about German, Nigerian and Chinese ones? The only reason this argument ever comes up is because English is the most common second-language spoken. American, British, Aussie, etc journalists have no more moral or reasonable responsibility to account for non-native/foreign audiences than any other nationalities do. If you want to read a foreign publication, it's on you to deal with their local norms.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      >Should French journalists account for French-speaking Americans? What about German, Nigerian and Chinese ones? They don't have to: French, Germans, Nigerians, and Chinese all use Celsius. >The only reason this argument ever comes up is because English is the most common second-language spoken. No, it only comes up because Americans are the only people who use Fahrenheit.
      - deaddodo 2y ago
        > If you want to read a foreign publication, it's on you to deal with their local norms.
- bisby 2y ago
  > with particularly dangerous temperatures forecasted for cities such as Chicago, New York, and Boston > A heat dome that descended on Portland, Oregon, > FastCompany is an American company American companies tend to write for American audiences, especially when the article leads off with a bunch of American anecdotes. If it was fastcompany.co.uk and it started off writing about how dangerous temperatures were going to be in London, and Liverpool, I would have assumed it was British. The "intended audience" isn't just "people who can speak this language", and there are plenty of other context clues other than just "it's in English"
- zoklet-enjoyer 2y ago
  It's about a material that was developed in the United States and mentions several locations, all of which are in the United States.
- crucialfelix 2y ago
  Every website clearly states what country it's in and who the target audience is. Except if it doesn't, in which case you know it's the Americans.
  - deaddodo 2y ago
    Please point to where in this article they mention this is written from/for France: https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/06/22/legislatives-2024-l-ex-ministre-aurelien-rousseau-candidat-de-la-gauche-en-campagne-face-a-la-grande-confusion-politique_6242575_823448.html https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/06/22/legislat... Explicitly, not in the form of contextual clues (their domain name and language). Correct, they do not. As the vast majority of published articles do not.
- TeaBrain 2y ago
  Fast Company is an American magazine. American business magazines, like Fortune, Forbes and Fast Company, write for a primarily American audience.
- deaddodo 2y ago
  > How come specifically American, and how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? It's a very popular publication in the United States and is a US company. > A huge number of people speak English as a second language. Yes, and if they're reading native articles, they're most certainly from the context of a small group of countries. It's not those nations' responsibility to make their articles accessible to every other nation simply because English is the most common second-language in the world. > Usually the notation follows the number, so it's kind of lazy to just say it's written for americans specifically I'm in France at this moment and haven't lived in the US for over half a decade. I've never once seen a Celsius-based nation put "15c", nor any non-english publication do so. They write for their audiences, the same as American, British, Canadian, etc publications do. > moreso as a counter to someone saying it's Farenheit instead of Celcius since I also clicked immediately thinking how is that possible. Correct. The publication is written for Americans and is done so from that context. The scientific paper it is discussing is much more specific, as it should be.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    >I've never once seen a Celsius-based nation put "15c", nor any non-english publication do so. They write for their audiences, the same as American, British, Canadian, etc publications do. It's not the same. There's only 1 Fahrenheit-based nation, and that's the US. Every other nation uses Celsius. So all the others just take it for granted and use Celsius degrees, and assume everyone else will assume it's Celsius, because 95% of the world uses Celsius. So they aren't "writing for their [local] audience", they're writing for anyone who happens to read it, and assuming, like most of humanity, that the reader will automatically assume Celsius. The C/F issue only becomes apparent when dealing with American readers or publications.
    - deaddodo 2y ago
      > There's only 1 Fahrenheit-based nation, and that's the US. And when that nation's people write for their own people, that don't need to care about what the other nation's use. Period. You're missing the main point in all of your grandstanding about America being different/unique in something. If you want to read American articles, it's on you to convert them. Just like Americans reading Die Welt, l'Republique, Xinhua. They don't owe you their audience just because 20% of the world speaks English.
jajko 2y ago
That's a weak defense when its obviously beneficial for marketing to claim 16 of X, instead of 8 improvement. Which at the end isn't even that if I understood the claims correctly. 95% of the world population uses Celsius scale, all scientists and military use it too, and ignoring units when having bombastic claims is either negligence or more probably on purpose. I am pretty sure the team (and subsequently company/companies) behind it is not limiting itself strictly to US market and willingly ignoring rest of the world, when there are countries with much bigger heat issues than US.
- 6510 2y ago
  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0653 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0653 >.. spectrally selective hierarchical fabric (SSHF) with emissivity greatly dominant in the atmospheric transmission window through molecular design, minimizing the net heat gain from the surroundings. The SSHF features a high solar spectrum reflectivity of 0.97 owing to strong Mie scattering from the nano-micro hybrid fibrous structure. The SSHF is 2.3°C cooler than a solar-reflecting broadband emitter when placed vertically in simulated outdoor urban scenarios during the day and also has excellent wearable properties.
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  People use the units that are customary in their country, that's all there is to it. There's no need for some conspiracy theory.
- akira2501 2y ago
  > all scientists and military use it too, That's hardly true. Even if it was it's not a justification for forcing people to change their common parlance. Also, if you really want a temperature scale, you'd have it referenced to absolute zero so it's an actual ratio quantity. So, a lot of "scientists" use Kelvin or in some cases Rankine. > ignoring rest of the world There's a conversion factor. We don't keep it secret. We're not "ignoring" the rest of the world, we're just operating in a mode that most convenient for us.
- briandear 2y ago
  It’s an American website, not a scientific paper. You see British publications using “stone,” when talking about body weight. Indian websites talk about “lakh” If you’re unhappy with the article, feel free to write your own. An American website has no obligation to cater to foreign audiences any more than a French website should be giving values in dollars or degrees Fahrenheit. Forget the idiom and focus on the content itself.
catlikesshrimp 2y ago
I also think there is not much more effort to type °C than °F, unless the writer isn't familiar with the topic. (The article does include both units. It is only the title trying to be sensationalist)
- briandear 2y ago
  But why? Does a French website use American units? It’s not that hard for them either right?
  - gpvos 2y ago
    80% of people who can read the article are unfamiliar with Fahrenheit. There is no need for anyone outside the USA and Canada to use Fahrenheit, ever.
    - deaddodo 2y ago
      Le Monde should realize that French-speaking Americans/Canadians are reading their articles and make sure everything is written from that context. Oh no they shouldn't, because that's idiotic; as it is for any national publication in any language. You want to read foreign articles, you deal with the conversions/idioms/colloquialisms/etc.
gpvos 2y ago
Maybe it is, but HN has a broader audience and the title loses context when used here. (Also, I think Fastco should realize that they're being read by English readers all over the world who only know Celsius, but I guess they do measure their audience.)
darajava 2y ago
There’s no harm in specifying the unit though.

midasz 2y ago

How come specifically American, and how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? A huge number of people speak English as a second language. Usually the notation follows the number, so it's kind of lazy to just say it's written for americans specifically - moreso as a counter to someone saying it's Farenheit instead of Celcius since I also clicked immediately thinking how is that possible.

jader201 2y ago
> how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? The first clue is the date, which is mm—dd-yyyy, only really used in the US. Also, while not “from glancing”, the article speaks in the context of heat in US cities. But yes, the author is likely taking for granted that non-US residents would read the article.
- deaddodo 2y ago
  > But yes, the author is likely taking for granted that non-US residents would read the article. Why should they need to? Should French journalists account for French-speaking Americans? What about German, Nigerian and Chinese ones? The only reason this argument ever comes up is because English is the most common second-language spoken. American, British, Aussie, etc journalists have no more moral or reasonable responsibility to account for non-native/foreign audiences than any other nationalities do. If you want to read a foreign publication, it's on you to deal with their local norms.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    >Should French journalists account for French-speaking Americans? What about German, Nigerian and Chinese ones? They don't have to: French, Germans, Nigerians, and Chinese all use Celsius. >The only reason this argument ever comes up is because English is the most common second-language spoken. No, it only comes up because Americans are the only people who use Fahrenheit.
    - deaddodo 2y ago
      > If you want to read a foreign publication, it's on you to deal with their local norms.
bisby 2y ago
> with particularly dangerous temperatures forecasted for cities such as Chicago, New York, and Boston > A heat dome that descended on Portland, Oregon, > FastCompany is an American company American companies tend to write for American audiences, especially when the article leads off with a bunch of American anecdotes. If it was fastcompany.co.uk and it started off writing about how dangerous temperatures were going to be in London, and Liverpool, I would have assumed it was British. The "intended audience" isn't just "people who can speak this language", and there are plenty of other context clues other than just "it's in English"
zoklet-enjoyer 2y ago
It's about a material that was developed in the United States and mentions several locations, all of which are in the United States.
crucialfelix 2y ago
Every website clearly states what country it's in and who the target audience is. Except if it doesn't, in which case you know it's the Americans.
- deaddodo 2y ago
  Please point to where in this article they mention this is written from/for France: https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/06/22/legislatives-2024-l-ex-ministre-aurelien-rousseau-candidat-de-la-gauche-en-campagne-face-a-la-grande-confusion-politique_6242575_823448.html https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2024/06/22/legislat... Explicitly, not in the form of contextual clues (their domain name and language). Correct, they do not. As the vast majority of published articles do not.
TeaBrain 2y ago
Fast Company is an American magazine. American business magazines, like Fortune, Forbes and Fast Company, write for a primarily American audience.
deaddodo 2y ago
> How come specifically American, and how'd you reach that conclusion from glancing at the site? It's a very popular publication in the United States and is a US company. > A huge number of people speak English as a second language. Yes, and if they're reading native articles, they're most certainly from the context of a small group of countries. It's not those nations' responsibility to make their articles accessible to every other nation simply because English is the most common second-language in the world. > Usually the notation follows the number, so it's kind of lazy to just say it's written for americans specifically I'm in France at this moment and haven't lived in the US for over half a decade. I've never once seen a Celsius-based nation put "15c", nor any non-english publication do so. They write for their audiences, the same as American, British, Canadian, etc publications do. > moreso as a counter to someone saying it's Farenheit instead of Celcius since I also clicked immediately thinking how is that possible. Correct. The publication is written for Americans and is done so from that context. The scientific paper it is discussing is much more specific, as it should be.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  >I've never once seen a Celsius-based nation put "15c", nor any non-english publication do so. They write for their audiences, the same as American, British, Canadian, etc publications do. It's not the same. There's only 1 Fahrenheit-based nation, and that's the US. Every other nation uses Celsius. So all the others just take it for granted and use Celsius degrees, and assume everyone else will assume it's Celsius, because 95% of the world uses Celsius. So they aren't "writing for their [local] audience", they're writing for anyone who happens to read it, and assuming, like most of humanity, that the reader will automatically assume Celsius. The C/F issue only becomes apparent when dealing with American readers or publications.
  - deaddodo 2y ago
    > There's only 1 Fahrenheit-based nation, and that's the US. And when that nation's people write for their own people, that don't need to care about what the other nation's use. Period. You're missing the main point in all of your grandstanding about America being different/unique in something. If you want to read American articles, it's on you to convert them. Just like Americans reading Die Welt, l'Republique, Xinhua. They don't owe you their audience just because 20% of the world speaks English.

jajko 2y ago

That's a weak defense when its obviously beneficial for marketing to claim 16 of X, instead of 8 improvement. Which at the end isn't even that if I understood the claims correctly. 95% of the world population uses Celsius scale, all scientists and military use it too, and ignoring units when having bombastic claims is either negligence or more probably on purpose. I am pretty sure the team (and subsequently company/companies) behind it is not limiting itself strictly to US market and willingly ignoring rest of the world, when there are countries with much bigger heat issues than US.

6510 2y ago
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0653 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0653 >.. spectrally selective hierarchical fabric (SSHF) with emissivity greatly dominant in the atmospheric transmission window through molecular design, minimizing the net heat gain from the surroundings. The SSHF features a high solar spectrum reflectivity of 0.97 owing to strong Mie scattering from the nano-micro hybrid fibrous structure. The SSHF is 2.3°C cooler than a solar-reflecting broadband emitter when placed vertically in simulated outdoor urban scenarios during the day and also has excellent wearable properties.
bigstrat2003 2y ago
People use the units that are customary in their country, that's all there is to it. There's no need for some conspiracy theory.
akira2501 2y ago
> all scientists and military use it too, That's hardly true. Even if it was it's not a justification for forcing people to change their common parlance. Also, if you really want a temperature scale, you'd have it referenced to absolute zero so it's an actual ratio quantity. So, a lot of "scientists" use Kelvin or in some cases Rankine. > ignoring rest of the world There's a conversion factor. We don't keep it secret. We're not "ignoring" the rest of the world, we're just operating in a mode that most convenient for us.
briandear 2y ago
It’s an American website, not a scientific paper. You see British publications using “stone,” when talking about body weight. Indian websites talk about “lakh” If you’re unhappy with the article, feel free to write your own. An American website has no obligation to cater to foreign audiences any more than a French website should be giving values in dollars or degrees Fahrenheit. Forget the idiom and focus on the content itself.

catlikesshrimp 2y ago

I also think there is not much more effort to type °C than °F, unless the writer isn't familiar with the topic. (The article does include both units. It is only the title trying to be sensationalist)

briandear 2y ago
But why? Does a French website use American units? It’s not that hard for them either right?
- gpvos 2y ago
  80% of people who can read the article are unfamiliar with Fahrenheit. There is no need for anyone outside the USA and Canada to use Fahrenheit, ever.
  - deaddodo 2y ago
    Le Monde should realize that French-speaking Americans/Canadians are reading their articles and make sure everything is written from that context. Oh no they shouldn't, because that's idiotic; as it is for any national publication in any language. You want to read foreign articles, you deal with the conversions/idioms/colloquialisms/etc.

gpvos 2y ago

Maybe it is, but HN has a broader audience and the title loses context when used here. (Also, I think Fastco should realize that they're being read by English readers all over the world who only know Celsius, but I guess they do measure their audience.)

darajava 2y ago

There’s no harm in specifying the unit though.