Drew Bell on How Standards Stick Around
Drew Bell on How Standards Stick Around
Today Drew Bell, Engineer at Postlight, writes in about something that at first seems kind of obscure—the fact that weather service alerts are often IN ALL CAPS. You know: “SEVERE WINDS WILL CAN DAMAGE ROOFS AND MAY DISLODGE SIGNS.” That sort of things.
It turns out that they don’t have to be in all caps, and in fact they aren’t supposed to be in all caps. But they are still, often, in all caps. Drew explains why, and along the way reminds us of the awesome power of standardization efforts in our surprisingly standards-driven lives. Read more if you are interested in how historical technical constraints inform the design and engineering of the modern world.